What About Plastic Bags?
The Australian Minister For Environment, Peter Garret, has suggested that they be banned by the end of the year. Outcry from retailers!
50% of consumers bring their own bags and don’t use the plastic ones. The big issue for me is remembering to carry them up from the car. I keep enough bags in the car to cope with forgetting to take them back to the car from the house.
The waste processors tell us that the bags cause problems in many automated and manual resource recovery systems. They also tell us that the bags do not cause as much problem in landfill as degradable organic waste which generates methane and contribute to the greenhouse effect.
The problem is the litter that they cause when people are irresponsible.
A sensible solution would be to charge a small levy per bag and let the market decide what they feel is the best way for them to move their groceries from shop to home BUT couple this with an education campaign or signage on the bag to remind people about the damage bags cause as litter.
Extending this subject to farming and aquaculture – what about stock feed and fertilizer bags. I am sure lots of my clients would love some helpful comments on how to deal with this problem.
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