The ban on plastic bags in supermarkets is one green policy immediately affecting the masses. Why bother and will it work?

Plastic bags take hundreds of years to degrade entirely, also contributing to hazardous emissions to the atmosphere whilst decomposing. In Malaysia, plastic bags and goods represent approximately 24% of the total waste, according to experts. Even worse, plastic bags end up being littered at public places, clogging up sewage drains which could contribute to flooding. When washed out to the ocean, plastic bags could pose a risk to marine animals whether through accidental ingestion or suffocation.  In Africa, the sight of littered plastic bags was so ubiquitous that a home-based industry has been developed to harvest these bags. The bags will be woven into hats, mats and even more durable bags, selling it off later on.

The Penang state government attempted to tackle the problem of over-using plastic bags by consumers, executing a campaign known as "No Plastic Bag Day" and has been successfully ongoing since January 2009. Penang recently achieved the goal of No More Free Plastic Bags Everyday on January 1^st this year. January 1^st 2011 also saw the ban effective nationwide.  In Selangor come April 1^st, the "No Plastic Bag Day" every Saturday will be expanded to farmers' markets, starting in Putrajaya.

Despite the lauded move, plastic manufacturers felt the pinch as sales then decreased, especially those whose main product is the plastic bag.  Several plastic manufacturers have introduced oxo-biodegradable (OBD) plastic bags in the market to replace non-biodegradable ones, believing that it might be more environmental-friendly. However, according to Anthony Tan, the Executive Director of Centre of Environment, Technology & Development, Malaysia (CETDEM), these are plastic bags which contain tiny amounts of metals such as cobalt, iron or manganese. They break down in the presence of sunlight and oxygen, and there are concerns about the residual metals and the time it takes for the plastics to degrade in certain circumstances. Biodegradable plastic may not fully decompose in a proper sanitised landfill unless it facilitates composting. Even when fully decomposed, the residue material can make the site environmentally unsafe.

In short, using biodegradable plastic bags is not exactly the best idea in terms of disposing household trash. Says Anthony, effective household sorting and separation of waste could be done with just three steps: composting organic waste, recycle inorganic waste into categories such as paper, metal and glass, and lastly live a sustainable lifestyle by living within our means. Even so, the public definitely needs to be further educated about the need to reduce solid waste generation.

In Europe, some supermarkets encourage their shoppers to carry home their purchases in cardboard boxes that were used to contain food and produce sold in the store. Perhaps Malaysian stores could consider that strategy. Even as the "No Plastic Bag" campaign is being promoted, the authorities should ensure that shopping outlets management must also provide assistance to the elderly and physically handicapped particularly when they have to load their purchases into or onto their vehicles.

There are numerous ways to cut down on the usage of disposable plastic products such as utensils to food containers. Tiffin containers definitely help in cutting down the utilization of plastic containers whenever the need to 'tah-pau' food arises. Even old ice-cream tubs can be used to store food if Tiffin containers seem too bulky. Besides that, reusable bags can be found in various colours and designs nowadays, no longer dull and unappealing. However, reusable bags should be washed often as well, as it breeds bacteria easily. A little bit goes a long way, no doubt Malaysia will be a greener country within years to come if young Malaysians incorporate reusing and recycling in their daily lives.

Check out Resuable.com for more facts on how to be a more ecologically-aware consumer.

Students' Say:

Francis, 20
What would you do to help save the environment?
People should stop littering everywhere. I've seen young kids who think it's "cool" chucking their sweet-wrappers out from the windows of their school buses. They should be educated from young that it's not cool at all!

Sabash, 19
What do you think about the state of our environment?
Not clean, at all. From our 'longkangs' to the air that we breathe.

Joyce, 22
What do you think about the state of our environment?
More room for improvement. There should be more that we can do to increase public awareness. I think many know that usage of plastic bags are not good for our environment, but they're quite ignorant and probably assume that this doesn't affect them in any direct way, but it does in the long run.

Jia Jia, 19
What do you think about the plastic bag ban?
It cuts down on my usage, that I know. It's simple, really, just bring paper bags or carry a bigger bag to chuck your purchases in.
What do you think should be done to improve the cleanliness of our environment?
I think people should stop spitting. I've seen people who walk and constantly spit every five feet as they walk. It's unhygienic and disgusting. It could spread nasty germs as well.

Brandon, 21
What would you do to help make our environment cleaner?
For one, I think Malaysians should carpool more often. There are too many cars on the road! Most houses I see have four to five cars probably owned by only one or two people. That's not gonna help cut down on the car emissions.

Shereen, 29
What do you think about the plastic bag ban?
 To be honest, I quite miss the plastic bags. I use them to throw my rubbish in, as well as to double bag my organic waste in. Because of the Saturdays ban, the stock of plastic bags in my house has gone so low, I have nothing to throw my waste in anymore. I do buy purpose-made waste bags, but these are really expensive. Nearly RM1 per piece, if I recall correctly. And aren't they plastic as well? Are they really environmentally friendly these plastic bin bags? Admittedly, before the ban, I sometimes had more plastic bags than I knew what to do with, but I felt I was a responsible consumer who actually reused these plastic bags.

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- Every square mile of the ocean has 46,000 pieces of floating plastic in it. (UN, 2006)

- Plastic bags used for dry cleaned clothes are an often-overlooked source of plastic bags, but an estimated 300,000,000 pounds of these single-use bags are disposed of in landfills each year

- Plastic bags are the second-most common type of ocean refuse, after cigarette butts (UN, 2008)

- The U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually at an estimated cost to retailers of $4 billion. (The Wall Street Journal)