plastic bags ... NOT FOR FREE

Starting 1-June-2008, all supermarkets, department stores and shops in China will not provide plastic bags for free. Price of plastic shopping bags should be clearly marked. Production, sales and use of ultra-thin plastic bags (thickness less than 0.025mm) are also to be banned.

Consumers are encouraged to use baskets, cloth bags or reuse old plastic bags to reduce environmental pollution.

In China, free plastic bags were first introduced in the 1980s in Guangdong province. Since then, decades of free bags have instilled a mentality of 'better more than fewer'; encouraged a use-and-discard habit.

Although this new regulation may cause inconvenience to people's daily lives in short term, it will greatly promote benefits to the environment in coming years.

Some supermarkets have already started to make cloth shopping bags or offer cardboard boxes.


In view of constructing an eco-friendly society, we need to examine our life and habit; improve it to get more closer to the green lifestyle.


things you could do in your daily life:
- bring basket, cloth bag, paper bag or reuse old plastic bag when go shopping
- if you don't bring, ask for cardboard box from the shop
- refuse plastic bag given to you when buying small item, put directly into your handbag.
- avoid buying items that are packed with excessive plastic packaging
- if possible, bring some food/drink container when buying some food outside
- any other suggestions?



some facts:
- it takes more than 200 years for plastic bags to dissolve in the natural environment.
- Chinese people use up to 3 billion plastic bags a day.
- China has to refine 5 million tons (37 million barrels) of crude oil every year to make packaging plastics (www.chinatradenews.com.cn).
- in China, each person produces an average of 264kg of rubbish every year, nearly 1m tonnes a day
- some consumer goods are packed with excessive plastic packaging, e.g. eggs are packed with 3 layers packaging plastic, etc.
- in China, many street-food-sellers wrap bowl/plate with ultra thin plastic bag before serving, saving time to wash the dishes; increases plastic garbages in the cities.