The Scourge of Plastic Bags

Did you know that Ikea, the Swedish home furnishings retailer, had started charging its U.S. customers 5 cents for every plastic bag they use to carry their purchases?

Ikea's U.S. stores went through 70 million plastic bags last year - and officials want to cut that in half over the first year with their new policy. That would equate to about 1.5 million trees being planted - an idea that got a favourable response from customers. Proceeds from the surcharge will go to the nonprofit group American Forests to plant trees, with dual goals of restoring forests and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Ikea implemented the bag charge in June across Britain, and the company anticipates more than a 90 percent drop in disposable bag use within the first year.

Environmental groups say plastic bags waste valuable oil resources, release toxins when burned, and contribute to global warming because of the energy required to produce them. They also say bags littering the oceans annually kill sea turtles and other marine animals that mistake them for food.

Several countries either surcharge or outright ban throwaway plastic bags, including Ireland, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, South Africa and Bangladesh.

I remember we had a similar campaign over here some time ago, but it fizzled out just as quickly as it was started. What a shame! Let’s not wait for another politician to hitchhike onto this idea to give his self image another boost. Why don’t we begin now?

For example, the next time you buy a book or a magazine which is already wrapped in plastic in the first place, just ask the cashier to give you the receipt instead of putting it into another plastic bag.

Get out your mum’s stainless steel Tiffin carriers which have probably been gathering dust at the back of the kitchen cabinets and bring them with you when buying take-away food.

For those who are already reusing plastic bags as garbage bags, bravo to you! And for the smaller bags, you can actually sort them out into their respective colours and sell them to the recycling company.

The above list is by no means exhaustive. Just bear in mind that whatever we do, this world has only been loaned to us by our future generations. Therefore, it is our utmost responsiblity to ensure that it is returned to them in a still habitable if not better condition when we pass on.