"No Plastic Bag" Campaign

Sabah is a wonderful place indeed and everybody agrees to that. Tourists who have been to Sabah, of course they will want to pay a visit again to this beautiful place. Sabah is known is the “Land below the Wind” aka “Negeri Di Bawah Bayu” in Malay language. We are living in a country with full of colourful and unique culture. We have great history, incredible nature attractions, and many more. You name it.

Well, I have been eager to write about this a very long time and I think it is time to make an action for writing out my thoughts. I hope it is not offensive, but it is just to share my thoughts to change and make an improvement to stay in a better place, in terms of environmental friendly for everyone.

I strongly support the idea of “No Plastic Bag” on Monday, Saturday and Sunday by the Government. Thank you for implementing this idea into the reality.

With this, I have something to say about this matter.

I understand that not all places apply to this campaign but why are the places which apply to this “No Plastic Bag” campaign are giving out plastic bags on Monday, Saturday and Sunday?

People do buy things from places and they have a lot of things to carry, if they buy-a-lot. I do understand that. In fact, I do understand that because I do buy things as well. But on “No Plastic Bag” days, people just need to pay 20cents to get a plastic. In this situation, how to call it a “No Plastic Bag” day?

I am not writing this to against the government but to let shopkeepers know that to sell plastic on “No Plastic Bag” days is totally out of the idea of the whole campaign that implemented by the government. Yes, you may sell the plastic to create awareness. But 20cents, who cares? (But I do know people who care for 20cents seriously). In fact, cashiers do ask “Do you want a plastic?” and I just ... shocked. It is like supporting people to use plastic, on “No Plastic Bag” days.

I have been told that in China, they are selling RMB5 for a plastic. If you convert to MYR, of course it is cheaper. But if MYR5 for a plastic bag, what is your decision for purchasing a plastic?

I found out an article in the websites and I wish to share with you all.

China will ban shops from giving out free plastic bags and has called on consumers to use baskets and cloth sacks instead to reduce environmental pollution.

"Our country consumes a huge amount of plastic shopping bags each year," said the State Council, China's cabinet. "While plastic shopping bags provide convenience to consumers, this has caused a serious waste of energy and resources and environmental pollution because of excessive usage, inadequate recycling and other reasons."

Beginning on June 1, all supermarkets, department stores and shops will be prohibited from giving out free plastic bags, the State Council said. Stores must clearly mark the price of plastic shopping bags and are banned from tacking that price onto products.

The production, sale and use of ultra-thin plastic bags - those less than 0.025 millimetres, or 0.00098 inches, thick - were also banned, according to the State Council notice. Dated Dec. 31 and posted on a government Web site Tuesday, it called for "a return to cloth bags and shopping baskets."

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/09/world/asia/09iht-plastic.1.9097939.html

Please stick with me after you read the above article if you clicked on the link.

Yes, most organization is supporting environmental campaign and they give out reusable bags for free. The question is does the individuals who received/ collecting it, make use of it? I will leave this question individually be answered, because I know some of us are using it.

Always, I keep one or two reusable bags in my car and when I know I want to buy something (because we are driving to the location for shopping); I will just put it in my bag and pass to the cashier. It is simply easy and done. Some supermarkets do sell reusable bags and people can purchase it upon payment at the cashier counter. Either you buy it, or you don’t and bring your own. 

It’s all about your decision.

I do understand that some customers freaked out or pissed just because there is no plastic given freely nowadays. Well, maybe Government should subsidise a little for the local businesses. Supermarkets should have provided paper bags instead of plastic bags.But why paper bags? At least paper bags can be recycled. Let’s see how people do in the States.

Still looking hot with the paper bags right?

People now are advice to make use of reusable bags/ eco bags because it can last longer than paper bags. We get it for free often, so why do you need to buy plastic bag?

“We can all easily reduce the amount of carrier bags that are used by reusing them as many times as possible.  Putting the worn out plastic bags in supermarket recycling points means they are collected specifically for specialist recycling and can then be turned into something new.”

Although carrier bags today use 70% less plastic than they did 20 years ago, most are still made from polyethylene, a kind of plastic which is non-degradable. This kind of plastic takes a long time to break down, possibly up to hundreds of years.

Source: http://www.recyclenow.com/what_can_i_do_today/can_it_be_recycled/plastic/carrier_bags.html

Think again, and I would like to see the good name of our country or state in the news internationally in supporting this campaign positively. Don’t you?