28 August 2009

Bagging the baggers of the bags?!

| moneypenny2612
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A couple of months ago, there was a rather energetic discussion on the RA about the future of plastic shopping bags.

More recently, there was an obscure vox pop in the Chronicle and some official phone polling too (nobody calls me).

Well, it seems that it’s all part of a new Government campaign. Stanhopia is spending $85 000 on call centres and card tables because it really wants to know how Canberrans use plastic shopping bags, and whether Canberrans are concerned about their use of plastic bags.

They say they’re even canvassing ‘options’ including bans (a la South Australia), the introduction of a levy, and alternative bags suitable for mass public consumption.

Card tables will be appearing at some local shopping centres soon (Tuggers gets the double chance):

  • Sunday August 30 Belconnen Fresh Food Markets 9am-12pm
  • Tuesday 1 September Westfield Belconnen 9am-5pm
  • Wednesday 2 September Canberra Centre 9am-5pm
  • Sunday 6 September Tuggeranong Hyperdome 9am-5pm
  • Tuesday 8 September Gungahlin Marketplace 9am-5pm
  • Wednesday 9 September Tuggeranong Hyperdome 9am-5pm
  • Tuesday 15 September Cooleman Court 9am-5pm
  • Wednesday 16 September Erindale Shopping Centre 9am-5pm
  • Thursday 17 September Woden Plaza 9am-5pm

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VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy9:44 am 28 Oct 09

Granny said :

It’s just plain silly to be producing rubbish that doesn’t break down when we can use biodegradable stuff. Evolution must be true, because humans are obviously closely related to lemmings.

I agree. Mandate the use of biodegradable bags, and stop worrying.

bd84 said :

People in Australia think it’s their god-given right to get their free plastic bag for their one item in the supermarket.

Actually, it is my God-given right to expect a plastic bag with my one item. Supermarkets recover their operating costs through the sale of goods, which are paid for by the consumer. Therefore they are not free.

And yes, I do enjoy using them once.

It’s just plain silly to be producing rubbish that doesn’t break down when we can use biodegradable stuff. Evolution must be true, because humans are obviously closely related to lemmings.

If we do put a price on per bag, lets say 5-10 centes per bag, how is that policed? will wholesale packing distributers have to charge that price, and retailers pass it on? will retailers be made to collect this tax, willit infact be a tax or another revenue option for retailers. Also I think if a charge is to be brought in it would have to be national, or people (retailers) would buy the bags (with out the larhe price) from other states. Currently I Pay .2c per large epi plastic bag, if i can sell them for 5c then it would be a nice little earner.

Im just not sure any enviromental saving is worth so much trouble, why not spewd the $85000 set aside to get community opinion and spend it on planting trees and cleaning native creeks.

paper bags cost a fortune compared to plastic.

plastic bags are really cheap so buying bin bags really isn’t going to send anyone broke.

James-T-Kirk8:05 am 01 Sep 09

When I was little, everything was packed in paper bags. Is that environmentally friendly?

rhino, I rarely have to buy a green bag. There’s some in the boot of the car, some in the cupboard at work, more in the bottom drawer in the kitchen… whether it’s a planned shopping trip or not, it’s not hard to find a few bags when I need them. As for imposing the cost, you’re already paying for bags. Shops build the cost of the plastic bags into the price of the goods.

This just seems like another way to impose certain views on everyone and possibly even tax people more. You may say that a green bag is only $1 but how many of them would you need? Theres 0% chance that you would always have them with you. You would always have to buy another handful of them. They are there now, so if you want to be a greenie go for your life but I don’t think everyone should be forced to fork out that money.

James, having used bio bags myself, I reckon they’d be fine for dog poo. They’re not even that expensive to buy.

James-T-Kirk12:34 pm 31 Aug 09

We used to use the Green Woolies bags every shop, until we discovered that we never had any bags to put the dog poo from the back yard into.

Now, we use green bags for the occasional visit, and get the plastic bags every fortnight for the dog poo!

Happy to use biodegradable bags, as long as they will survive the trip from the yard to the big green council bin!

I also give my plastic to charities so they can bag the items they sell, they always need them.

You could buy biodeagradable plastic bags as bin liners. For wet clothes, I like PUL (polyurethane laminate) fabric bags as they are more long-lasting and will survive a trip through the tumble dryer. The PUL bags also zip up so there’s no escapes (I put wet cloth nappies in them sometimes, not something you want smells escaping from) whereas plastic bags with a knot in them often get ripped apart to get the clothes out for washing. You can also make similar wetbags from polar fleece (two layers together is quite water resistant) or the poly fabric that the green bags are made from. Just unfasten the bag and tip it in the washing machine with the clothes, too easy. The ultra eco-friendly solution would be a lanolised wool bag – water resistant, strong enough to carry lots of stuff and will last through many uses, washable, but will biodegrade at end of life.

Biodegradable bags are also good for lining your compost bin. And cloth bags (eg the calico shopping bags I got from Supabarn in the city many years ago) also make good nappy bucket liners.

Seriously, people. It’s not rocket science. You might use your plastic bag a few times before throwing it in the rubbish, but if it doesn’t biodegrade then it won’t be good for the environment. A ban on non-biodegradable plastic bags will be a good thing for the planet.

All our bags go to our kids’ day care centre that use them for wet clothes after accidents and we use them for bin liners. Bottom line, these plastic bags have to come from somewhere and it’ll just be Glad or some other plastic bag manufacturer cashing in on commercial bag sales going forward.

A friend of mine who worked for the Commonwealth Department of Plastic Bags (whichever one it was looking in to plastic bags) a couple of years ago told me that the “green” bags – the ones you use to avoid the accusing glares of other shoppers – equate to 100 standard shopping bags. We use them in our household, but have found they give up the ghost after a few months through tears, etc.

I’d bet that a standard plastic bag reused a few times would be far more environmentally friendly, at least from the energy/greenhouse standpoint, than the use of the “green” bags.

On another note, I remember hearing that the woman who got the whole plastic bag banning thing up and running in Australia was shown on TV going shopping, using reusable bags. The thing was, she drove a Toyota Landcruiser, or similar, a very short distance from her suburban house to the local shopping centre, absolutely demolishing any environmental gain she made from using reuasable bags.

I notice a lot of stores nowadays won’t give you a bag unless you ask for it. Sometimes that’s fine, I don’t need a bag for the one CD I’ve bought; other times it’s downright absurd, not being offered a bag when I’m clearly buying more than I have arms to carry…

I for one recycle the plastic bags, I use them for my rubbish bins, so then how is it going to change, when I would have to buy plastic bags, so there you go!

Either ban them or put a price on them.

All the “ohhh but I put my garbage in them” people, that’s a just bullshit excuse. If you want to put your rubbish in them, you can buy them like everything else. People in Australia think it’s their god-given right to get their free plastic bag for their one item in the supermarket. The number of people who ask for a plastic bag for their mars bar, pack of cigarettes or one bottle of milk complete with handle is absolutely rediculous and I can bet none of them gain a second use.

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