Plastic Bag News

Plastic bag news is common these days, with announcements of bag bans, new legislation, and various merchants "going green".

Some plastic bag news that we don't hear about on a daily basis is more alarming. Have you ever heard of the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch"? I hadn't either, until fairly recently. It's a huge island of trash the size of Texas, floating in the Pacific Ocean. If you Google this, you'll find more info than you'll likely want to learn:

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one of those vague, unknown places outside our immediate consciousness that define "away", when we say that we are throwing things away. Actually seeing it is sad, depressing, infuriating and ultimately, motivating to redouble the commitment to recycling our waste, and promoting reusable bags as one part of the answer to this problem. And, solutions can be fun, which is what a rags-to-bags fundraiser is, too.

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China’s Bag Ban

China has recently announced a ban on all plastic bags. Shops, department stores and supermarkets may not give out free plastic bags, and they are also prohibited from adding the cost of bags to their merchandise.

Estimated to use more plastic bags than any other country, China currently uses 37 million barrels of crude oil in their bag production.

The bag ban is to take effect starting June 1, 2008.

Ireland
Ireland initiated a plastic shopping bag levy or tax in March of 2002. The tax amount was originally 0.15 Euros or just under a quarter US. In July of 2007, this was raised to 0.22 Euros, or about 33 cents US. While Ireland has not banned plastic shopping bags and stores can continue to provide them subject to the levy, the action has resulted in a reduction of plastic bag use by 95%. Use of reusable bags has risen steadily as a result. The money raised from the bag tax is used to fund environmental projects.