YAY!!! I was so happy to hear about this so early in the morning. 
Finally, a move that will definitely create a positive impact on the environment. 
Although it is still in the discussion stage, it is good to hear and see that something is being done. I really hope that this ban pulls through because using 4 billion plastic bags a year is no laughing matter when a lot of them end up in the rivers due to selfish and ignorant people. I’m pretty sure that this ban will not go down well with the supermarkets and it hasn’t.
I guess another option besides banning the whole idea would be to produce recycleable plastic bags. I know they exist coz my chemist uses them but I don’t know if the process that is required to produce these bags will causes more problems in the long run or not, so that remains to be seen or thought about by the government. There’s a poll currently being carried out asking the question :
What should replace plastic bags?
I personally think that the use of the green bag [It's used rather extensively here in Australia. It is merely a bag, most of the time green, which is used over and over again, but I'm not so sure what it's made of.] would be the best because obviously paper bags won’t be able to handle heavy stuff. I’m not so sure what other replacement there is…
by Dabido, on January 10 2008 @ 12:09 pm
If Australia the plastic bags we do use are recyclable. If you go to your local Coles of Woolworths store you should find some ‘Recycling Bag’ bin somewhere hidden near the front of the store. [They're like big green wheel garbage bins, but they're for plastic bags]. So, you can actually recycle the ones you get from the store.
[In fact, when my local Woolworths ran out of plastic bags due to some strike, they raided the wheel bins recyclable ones ... needless to say, half of them had rips and stuff in them].
Of course, what I’d like o see them replace them with is free Lego Bags … plastic bags made from lego bricks so when you get home you can build other things … like a giant lego house, lego chairs, lego television. Just think of the endless possibilities.
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by Sweetest Sin, on January 10 2008 @ 8:06 pm
das : yuck!!!! re-use those in the bin, are u sure or not???? well, if they ever did replace with lego bags, i can just imagine wat u n wuching would be up to!
by Mama Bok, on January 11 2008 @ 7:05 am
I do like the idea of banning plastic bags..but you know old habits die hard.. so it will take a few months.. before anyone would get used to it.
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by Dabido, on January 11 2008 @ 12:38 pm
It was pretty disgusting, but as I said, was a strike and the ‘recycling bins’ are clean … not sure about all the bags in the bins though, you never know what people have had in them lol BUT, they usually go off to get recycled … ie melted down and turned back into plastic bags [or something else]. Actually, I’d stuck a huge load of plastic bags in the recycling bin the day before I went to that Woolworths and was disappointed as I knew the bags I was getting back weren’t my clean ones. lol
Looks like Peter Garret is going to have the bags banned. I think it’s time I bought myself some nice big canvas bags. I can understand it though. Not everyone recycles their bags like I do and a lot of them end up in water ways and on the beach etc.
You can imagine some poor dolphin dead on the beach with one over it’s head and the police thinking it was an auto erotic asphyxiation thing, when it was really just people being too lazy to recycle.
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by Yvy, on January 11 2008 @ 6:49 pm
das : u got that right!! but you know, i never thought abt that erotic idea behind the plastic bags…trust u to think that creatively!
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by Yvy, on January 11 2008 @ 6:50 pm
mama bok : yea, i know what u mean. it will certainly take time for ppl to get used to using our green bags. in fact, it’s a matter of REMEMBERING to bring those bags when we go shopping!
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