Public Encouraged To Reduce Plastic Bag Usage By 1 Bag Per Person Per Day

[JDGRUEN]

Plastic Recycling into useful products... The Thai Government, the Bangkok Government or Private Enterprise in Thailand should strongly consider bringing technology such as is offered by ByFusion --- links below... Supplying the profit motive to removing waste plastics is the most assured mode to get it done...

Innovative New Zealand Company Solves Global Plastic Waste Problem

Byfusion Technology has devised a solution to the world's plastic waste dilemma, by developing technology that recycles all co-mingled plastic waste into versatile commercial products

Byfusion Technology is a simple clean process, which transforms mixed plastic waste, including metal bottle tops and paper labels, into ground-breaking, multi purpose products.

Byfusion Technology provides an effective and economic solution to the global problem of landfills and oceans being overcome by plastic.

http://www.byfusion.net/introduction.html

http://www.byfusion.net/home.html

http://www.byfusion.net/productspecs.html

http://www.byfusion.net/videos.html

Edited April 27, 2013 by JDGRUEN

[hellodolly]

Am glad you did watch it and took the time to respond. You are entirely correct that plastic bags account for only a proportion of the overall problem. The small chunks referred to are, however the result of plastics breaking up and the bags are very clearly a significant contributor to the problem simply as a result of the sheer volumes consumed. I am no environmentalist either, don't recycle or care much about my carbon footprint but I don't need my shopping double bagged and I do support this initiative as it helps to trash the plant that little bit less. The only solution is reducing demand. Ireland have implemented this very successfully with a tax on plastic bags. Would you pay for one? Note also this is not simply a domestic problem. Af 37.00 you will see where the US are shipping most of their plastic waste. Asia.

I would pay for plastic bags, I just don't want the option removed of having them. As long as the price is reasonable (not like 100 baht a piece or whatever). I remain unconvinced that they are a significant problem but yes if they charged for them it would not be an issue for me. I just want to have them available, ideally for free but if they charge for them at least I can still have them. If they put more items in them to reduce the number of bags used that could lead to bags ripping so is not a solution in my view. They do that in places like Australia but often I say double bag it if they put three wine bottles in the one bag.

I've always been a strong advocate of "improve rather than reduce" - in this case improve the product so the environmental impact is removed, rather than reducing usage which can be highly inconvenient and tends to make very little meaningful difference overall, other than a "feel good" factor.

Same with say car usage: people say reduce it so there's less greenhouse gases; I say change the technology so there's no issue anymore. Costs a bit, like they need to build massive solar and wind plants to generate hydrogen out of seawater to power fuel cell cars, but once this gets done there's no more greenhouse gas production. The technology already exists but costs are too high so far. Once oil goes up more and at the same time there's better yield from solar cells (like the new nanotube ones they are developing which apparently are 15x more efficient) costs will come down and it will become feasible..

What you say is as likely to happen as Santa Clause bringing you a women made of disposable plastic bags.

Once again a monologue of what some one else should do. I take it you didn't bother with the video.

You just make up any reason that pops into your head to deny it and continue on your self serving way.

If plastic bags are so harmless just save up the ones you receive in the next month maybe ask the neighbors to help you out to gather some more and take them all and do some thing useful with them.

If you throw them away they go into a land fill and many cities are running out of land to use as land fills.

[hellodolly]

I don't care because there's nothing to care about. Far as I can see.

I don't care what you have seen on TV and now believe to be the truth. I don't care what the mainstream public believes without plastic bags -

because they have not really thought about the details and just repeat what they see on TV.

I do care about the environment. But I don't believe bullshit stories in the media.

Tell me what ACTUAL IMPACT plastic bags have on the environment other than visual pollution in a garbage dump. TELL ME YOUR HORROR STORIES ABOUT PLASTIC BAGS.

YOUR OWN ONES - not the ones you see on TV that serve their producers to advance their careers with unproven and hyped up sensationalism.

I bet you (and anyone else reading this) can't tell me any horror stories - because there aren't any real ones.

PB - I suggest you take a few minutes of your time to watch 5 minutes of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzEQ1FxC0fs (from around 41 min). It is an independent documentary and a real horror story with contributions from National Geographic and Marine Scientists that have spent two decades studying this.

The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is a little far for me to travel so we may have to rely upon the marine scientists that have been studying this area for the past two decades and assume that perhaps they are making this up to 'advance their careers'

Well I watched the whole show Wow What an eye opener.

I highly recommended it. Even as most of us are aware of the damage of disposable plastic it still is mind blowing.

[Plastic Brontosaurus]

PB, it is ignorance like yours that magnifies the global problems.

Are all of these ok by your thinking?

Have you heard the saying 'every little bit helps"

Plastic bags are one single problem in a huge problem of garbage in general.

Plastic bags is one thing everybody that cared just a little bit, could do something about today and for the rest of their days. Refuse a bag, you do not need a bag to carry everything home. You do not need 2 bags when they will all fit in one etc.

This is something you can do something about right now. All the other problems also need addressing and they do, this is just one of them.

You do not need a plastic bag to carry your water bottle out of 7/11. You do need the plastic bottle to carry the water out.

If you cannot see that and any advantage of it, then you simply are one of the ignorant millions that are destroying the planet.

I used to work in some pristine environments, more than you would have ever seen. These areas are now being ruined some 15/20 years on because of the 100 fold increase in rubbish and convenient packaging.

I was in one such environment over xmas and the difference was staggering.

Keep your head in the sand if you want and plead ignorance, but good people will not stop caring, unlike yourself and give up. You are just weak no doubt.

This is exactly what I mean. There's always a few photos out there that are RARE OCCURRENCES of events and that are then posted of evidence of a major problem.

How many of such "plastic wrapped birds" has anyone on this forum actually seen? I'm pretty sure it's zero. On the same basis as forbidding plastic bags, you should argue that arrows (the ones shot from bows) should be forbidden because there's a series of photos out there with birds with arrows through their neck. Just google (on Google Images) "bird with plastic bag" and "bird with arrow". The former will yield the photos posted above plus a few more - it's not like there's heaps of photos out there because it hardly ever happens that birds are caught in bags. The latter search will yield about the same number of birds with arrows in them.

The whole argument of reducing plastic bags or banning them remains a load of <deleted> IMHO. It's not about every little bit helps - because they would be replaced with "reusable" woven polyester bags, which are much heavier and need a lot more energy to produce, and are also wasted albeit after a few more uses. So it would just be shifting the burden another way, until some little old lady in Hampshire finds one of these "reusable" bags in her chicken coop and starts the next round of "let's ban these too". All replacement bags, whether woven polyester, or paper, or cotton etc. require much more energy to produce and similar levels of wastage occur during production and often disposal.

The problem with plastic bags is that they are made of an artificial material and thus people make a big fuss because artificial materials should be avoided at all cost, and if a bit of it ends up in the environment it is a major issue.

The argument about the pristine environments - yes there are areas (in the central Pacific for one) which see a lot of trash wash up on the beaches because they are in a vortex area of ocean currents. There will be a few plastic bags among the trash, but the far majority of it consists of harder and more durable plastics such as pallet covers, polyester chips, PET bottles, etc. This is not a reason to argue that plastic bags are evil. The problem is that all kinds of trash are washed out to sea in rivers, and thrown from ships. Plastic shopping bags are just a very small part of them.

I've asked for concrete examples etc. but nobody gives them. Only reproductions of standard "sample" pictures showcasing the supposed evil of plastic bags. Nobody has come up with anything convincing IMHO.

Many people want to be mainstream and politically correct, and thus follow the prevailing opinion without questioning it (simply because a few pictures exist of birds wrapped in plastic, does not mean there is a global issue with plastic shopping bags - there may be a problem with trash in general but that is a very different issue that is conveniently being bundled into the shopping bag argument it seems).

Many others don't agree but keep silent because they are fearful of opposing the mainstream opinion, which in this case is that plastic bags are evil but nobody really knows why - unless you're basing an opinion on a few pictures and don't care about what is reasonable, or any hard facts or stats.

I repeat: show me the actual facts how PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS are destroying the environment (and I don't buy a few sensationalist pictures or movies as being proof of that). Waste in general may have a major impact on the environment globally, but PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS are INERT LIKE GLASS and don't leak chemicals or similar. Some marine animals may eat a few and of course that upsets some people, but I haven't seen any proof that PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS threaten populations of animals anywhere in the world, or actually pollute the environment in a serious way (apart from annoying a few little old ladies in Hampshire when they blow across their lawn).

My argument remains: there's nothing wrong with plastic shopping bags.

That's not to say there's nothing wrong with global waste. There are serious problems in some areas caused by waste. This is usually caused by leakage of chemicals, petroleum products, medical waste products, radioactivity and similar from areas where waste is dumped. This is a serious issue. But don't confuse that with the issue of plastic shopping bags - because that really is not an issue.

If you still believe plastic bags are a problem, invent a solution. Don't just sit there and try to reduce usage which is non-constructive. Its the same as saying petroleum products cause global warming so let's drive less. <deleted>. Invent a solution that replaces the original "evil" solution with something that does the same, but without the evil aspect.

Have a great day! I'm off to the supermarket

Rare photos?!? Not rare at all, but the news agencies don't want to report about it every day or even every week. So a lot of short sited, uninformed, twits that believe god exists think everything is great because they can't see garbage in their area. In fact plastic is killing several hundred thousand animals a year. And it effects millions more, but hey keep your head in the sand and you won't see it so hey there isn't a problem.

If someone sees an animal with a plastic bag on its head or similar, they will take a photo of it. You may be old fashioned and carry no camera, but almost everyone else does and thus they WILL take a photo because it is a sensational thing to see an animal covered in plastic. And they will UPLOAD the photo, because that's what happens. And google will INDEX the photo as part of its image index. So almost all photos that exist are out there online. And what that means is that animals with plastic bags on them are rare. It's a simple statistical truth that everyone can see. You may want to get a better grip on the realities of the internet

Even if plastic kills "several hundred thousand animals a year" (wild guess/speculation? It may very well be true but what source do you have?) that's hardly relevant on a global scale. Millions more are killed in other ways. Plus if you had read my posts before, my argument is essentially that reducing plastic bag usage won't make a difference. Because there will still be billions of plastic bags in circulation. And many other types of plastics create much bigger problems, and that's not even talking about much more severe pollutants. So what I'm saying is that it's a feel good thing that makes no difference.

Not sure where you get the religious angle from, far as I remember nobody talked about anything religious on this thread.

However I'm getting fed up with repeating the same stuff every time, and there's a bunch of people on here who remain focused on the small things that make them feel good but make no difference in the real world. I've made my point, and am signing off from this thread because there's nothing more to say about the subject.

If it makes you happy and gives you a sense of purpose to reduce your plastic bag usage by a 100-odd bags a year, and think that is a great initiative that will save the world from death by plastic, go right ahead and dream on

[Nisa]

PB, it is ignorance like yours that magnifies the global problems.

Are all of these ok by your thinking?

Have you heard the saying 'every little bit helps"

Plastic bags are one single problem in a huge problem of garbage in general.

Plastic bags is one thing everybody that cared just a little bit, could do something about today and for the rest of their days. Refuse a bag, you do not need a bag to carry everything home. You do not need 2 bags when they will all fit in one etc.

This is something you can do something about right now. All the other problems also need addressing and they do, this is just one of them.

You do not need a plastic bag to carry your water bottle out of 7/11. You do need the plastic bottle to carry the water out.

If you cannot see that and any advantage of it, then you simply are one of the ignorant millions that are destroying the planet.

I used to work in some pristine environments, more than you would have ever seen. These areas are now being ruined some 15/20 years on because of the 100 fold increase in rubbish and convenient packaging.

I was in one such environment over xmas and the difference was staggering.

Keep your head in the sand if you want and plead ignorance, but good people will not stop caring, unlike yourself and give up. You are just weak no doubt.

This is exactly what I mean. There's always a few photos out there that are RARE OCCURRENCES of events and that are then posted of evidence of a major problem.

How many of such "plastic wrapped birds" has anyone on this forum actually seen? I'm pretty sure it's zero. On the same basis as forbidding plastic bags, you should argue that arrows (the ones shot from bows) should be forbidden because there's a series of photos out there with birds with arrows through their neck. Just google (on Google Images) "bird with plastic bag" and "bird with arrow". The former will yield the photos posted above plus a few more - it's not like there's heaps of photos out there because it hardly ever happens that birds are caught in bags. The latter search will yield about the same number of birds with arrows in them.

The whole argument of reducing plastic bags or banning them remains a load of <deleted> IMHO. It's not about every little bit helps - because they would be replaced with "reusable" woven polyester bags, which are much heavier and need a lot more energy to produce, and are also wasted albeit after a few more uses. So it would just be shifting the burden another way, until some little old lady in Hampshire finds one of these "reusable" bags in her chicken coop and starts the next round of "let's ban these too". All replacement bags, whether woven polyester, or paper, or cotton etc. require much more energy to produce and similar levels of wastage occur during production and often disposal.

The problem with plastic bags is that they are made of an artificial material and thus people make a big fuss because artificial materials should be avoided at all cost, and if a bit of it ends up in the environment it is a major issue.

The argument about the pristine environments - yes there are areas (in the central Pacific for one) which see a lot of trash wash up on the beaches because they are in a vortex area of ocean currents. There will be a few plastic bags among the trash, but the far majority of it consists of harder and more durable plastics such as pallet covers, polyester chips, PET bottles, etc. This is not a reason to argue that plastic bags are evil. The problem is that all kinds of trash are washed out to sea in rivers, and thrown from ships. Plastic shopping bags are just a very small part of them.

I've asked for concrete examples etc. but nobody gives them. Only reproductions of standard "sample" pictures showcasing the supposed evil of plastic bags. Nobody has come up with anything convincing IMHO.

Many people want to be mainstream and politically correct, and thus follow the prevailing opinion without questioning it (simply because a few pictures exist of birds wrapped in plastic, does not mean there is a global issue with plastic shopping bags - there may be a problem with trash in general but that is a very different issue that is conveniently being bundled into the shopping bag argument it seems).

Many others don't agree but keep silent because they are fearful of opposing the mainstream opinion, which in this case is that plastic bags are evil but nobody really knows why - unless you're basing an opinion on a few pictures and don't care about what is reasonable, or any hard facts or stats.

I repeat: show me the actual facts how PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS are destroying the environment (and I don't buy a few sensationalist pictures or movies as being proof of that). Waste in general may have a major impact on the environment globally, but PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS are INERT LIKE GLASS and don't leak chemicals or similar. Some marine animals may eat a few and of course that upsets some people, but I haven't seen any proof that PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS threaten populations of animals anywhere in the world, or actually pollute the environment in a serious way (apart from annoying a few little old ladies in Hampshire when they blow across their lawn).

My argument remains: there's nothing wrong with plastic shopping bags.

That's not to say there's nothing wrong with global waste. There are serious problems in some areas caused by waste. This is usually caused by leakage of chemicals, petroleum products, medical waste products, radioactivity and similar from areas where waste is dumped. This is a serious issue. But don't confuse that with the issue of plastic shopping bags - because that really is not an issue.

If you still believe plastic bags are a problem, invent a solution. Don't just sit there and try to reduce usage which is non-constructive. Its the same as saying petroleum products cause global warming so let's drive less. <deleted>. Invent a solution that replaces the original "evil" solution with something that does the same, but without the evil aspect.

Have a great day! I'm off to the supermarket

Rare photos?!? Not rare at all, but the news agencies don't want to report about it every day or even every week. So a lot of short sited, uninformed, twits that believe god exists think everything is great because they can't see garbage in their area. In fact plastic is killing several hundred thousand animals a year. And it effects millions more, but hey keep your head in the sand and you won't see it so hey there isn't a problem.

If someone sees an animal with a plastic bag on its head or similar, they will take a photo of it. You may be old fashioned and carry no camera, but almost everyone else does and thus they WILL take a photo because it is a sensational thing to see an animal covered in plastic. And they will UPLOAD the photo, because that's what happens. And google will INDEX the photo as part of its image index. So almost all photos that exist are out there online. And what that means is that animals with plastic bags on them are rare. It's a simple statistical truth that everyone can see. You may want to get a better grip on the realities of the internet

Even if plastic kills "several hundred thousand animals a year" (wild guess/speculation? It may very well be true but what source do you have?) that's hardly relevant on a global scale. Millions more are killed in other ways. Plus if you had read my posts before, my argument is essentially that reducing plastic bag usage won't make a difference. Because there will still be billions of plastic bags in circulation. And many other types of plastics create much bigger problems, and that's not even talking about much more severe pollutants. So what I'm saying is that it's a feel good thing that makes no difference.

Not sure where you get the religious angle from, far as I remember nobody talked about anything religious on this thread.

However I'm getting fed up with repeating the same stuff every time, and there's a bunch of people on here who remain focused on the small things that make them feel good but make no difference in the real world. I've made my point, and am signing off from this thread because there's nothing more to say about the subject.

If it makes you happy and gives you a sense of purpose to reduce your plastic bag usage by a 100-odd bags a year, and think that is a great initiative that will save the world from death by plastic, go right ahead and dream on

Your logic dictates that no effort should be made to improve anything because unless it actually cures the problem or at least significantly there is no sense in making an effort. Reducing the number of plastic bags people use and therefor that are produced is a good thing for the environment. Will it cure aids, stop all wars, make the air perfect and stop all pollution? Of course not but to try in anyway to say it is not a good thing that people reduce their use of plastic bags makes no sense. You may have a point that the effects will not be as great as some may think but you have gone way overboard in trying to communicate this to the point of making yourself seem less credible ... and I do believe you have a point but the bottom line is you cannot argue with the fact people cutting down on plastic bag use is a good thing for the environment. .

[utalkin2me]

IKEA has very annoyingly "solved" this problem. What geniuses, I swear. Deny the customer a free bag, and then claim green all day long. It is seriously genius to be admired.

Why don't others follow suit?

[Nisa]

IKEA has very annoyingly "solved" this problem. What geniuses, I swear. Deny the customer a free bag, and then claim green all day long. It is seriously genius to be admired.

Why don't others follow suit?

Save money too. The number they quote in the US is that $4 billion is spent annually just in the United States producing plastic bags and believe something like 12 Million Barrels of oil are used..

[ginjag]

wait a minute ,, did i just woke up n the eighties ?? again .

still good idea doubt if it is gonna work

still i'm always the one to decline plastic bags if not needed such as for a drink @ 7/11 , but also when go shopping Tesco / big c 12 products 12 bags

thankfull Makro came to town 12 products NO plastic bags at all ( would help if one could easily grab a box from them thou

I agree. Makro is just a copy of the Costco chain in the US in every way, except: Costco offers you a box to carry your items.

I take my Big C bags to Makro. Saves having loads of things rolling around the back of the pick-up.

I take my Tesco bags to Big C, to save them handing theirs out

[utalkin2me]

I seriously wonder about the entire grocery store business model. I am sure it isn't going anywhere, but what would be wrong with just ordering this stuff via telephone or online, and pulling up to a factory style "grocery store" and just having the goods loaded in within boxes. That or they deliver them for a small fee.

I think people just like to wander aimlessly wedged within isles of food. Something about the whole tactile nature of it all. I'd miss them, but would also be happy to see them go.

[vijer]

PB, it is ignorance like yours that magnifies the global problems.

Are all of these ok by your thinking?

Have you heard the saying 'every little bit helps"

Plastic bags are one single problem in a huge problem of garbage in general.

Plastic bags is one thing everybody that cared just a little bit, could do something about today and for the rest of their days. Refuse a bag, you do not need a bag to carry everything home. You do not need 2 bags when they will all fit in one etc.

This is something you can do something about right now. All the other problems also need addressing and they do, this is just one of them.

You do not need a plastic bag to carry your water bottle out of 7/11. You do need the plastic bottle to carry the water out.

If you cannot see that and any advantage of it, then you simply are one of the ignorant millions that are destroying the planet.

I used to work in some pristine environments, more than you would have ever seen. These areas are now being ruined some 15/20 years on because of the 100 fold increase in rubbish and convenient packaging.

I was in one such environment over xmas and the difference was staggering.

Keep your head in the sand if you want and plead ignorance, but good people will not stop caring, unlike yourself and give up. You are just weak no doubt.

This is exactly what I mean. There's always a few photos out there that are RARE OCCURRENCES of events and that are then posted of evidence of a major problem.

How many of such "plastic wrapped birds" has anyone on this forum actually seen? I'm pretty sure it's zero. On the same basis as forbidding plastic bags, you should argue that arrows (the ones shot from bows) should be forbidden because there's a series of photos out there with birds with arrows through their neck. Just google (on Google Images) "bird with plastic bag" and "bird with arrow". The former will yield the photos posted above plus a few more - it's not like there's heaps of photos out there because it hardly ever happens that birds are caught in bags. The latter search will yield about the same number of birds with arrows in them.

The whole argument of reducing plastic bags or banning them remains a load of <deleted> IMHO. It's not about every little bit helps - because they would be replaced with "reusable" woven polyester bags, which are much heavier and need a lot more energy to produce, and are also wasted albeit after a few more uses. So it would just be shifting the burden another way, until some little old lady in Hampshire finds one of these "reusable" bags in her chicken coop and starts the next round of "let's ban these too". All replacement bags, whether woven polyester, or paper, or cotton etc. require much more energy to produce and similar levels of wastage occur during production and often disposal.

The problem with plastic bags is that they are made of an artificial material and thus people make a big fuss because artificial materials should be avoided at all cost, and if a bit of it ends up in the environment it is a major issue.

The argument about the pristine environments - yes there are areas (in the central Pacific for one) which see a lot of trash wash up on the beaches because they are in a vortex area of ocean currents. There will be a few plastic bags among the trash, but the far majority of it consists of harder and more durable plastics such as pallet covers, polyester chips, PET bottles, etc. This is not a reason to argue that plastic bags are evil. The problem is that all kinds of trash are washed out to sea in rivers, and thrown from ships. Plastic shopping bags are just a very small part of them.

I've asked for concrete examples etc. but nobody gives them. Only reproductions of standard "sample" pictures showcasing the supposed evil of plastic bags. Nobody has come up with anything convincing IMHO.

Many people want to be mainstream and politically correct, and thus follow the prevailing opinion without questioning it (simply because a few pictures exist of birds wrapped in plastic, does not mean there is a global issue with plastic shopping bags - there may be a problem with trash in general but that is a very different issue that is conveniently being bundled into the shopping bag argument it seems).

Many others don't agree but keep silent because they are fearful of opposing the mainstream opinion, which in this case is that plastic bags are evil but nobody really knows why - unless you're basing an opinion on a few pictures and don't care about what is reasonable, or any hard facts or stats.

I repeat: show me the actual facts how PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS are destroying the environment (and I don't buy a few sensationalist pictures or movies as being proof of that). Waste in general may have a major impact on the environment globally, but PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS are INERT LIKE GLASS and don't leak chemicals or similar. Some marine animals may eat a few and of course that upsets some people, but I haven't seen any proof that PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS threaten populations of animals anywhere in the world, or actually pollute the environment in a serious way (apart from annoying a few little old ladies in Hampshire when they blow across their lawn).

My argument remains: there's nothing wrong with plastic shopping bags.

That's not to say there's nothing wrong with global waste. There are serious problems in some areas caused by waste. This is usually caused by leakage of chemicals, petroleum products, medical waste products, radioactivity and similar from areas where waste is dumped. This is a serious issue. But don't confuse that with the issue of plastic shopping bags - because that really is not an issue.

If you still believe plastic bags are a problem, invent a solution. Don't just sit there and try to reduce usage which is non-constructive. Its the same as saying petroleum products cause global warming so let's drive less. <deleted>. Invent a solution that replaces the original "evil" solution with something that does the same, but without the evil aspect.

Have a great day! I'm off to the supermarket

Rare photos?!? Not rare at all, but the news agencies don't want to report about it every day or even every week. So a lot of short sited, uninformed, twits that believe god exists think everything is great because they can't see garbage in their area. In fact plastic is killing several hundred thousand animals a year. And it effects millions more, but hey keep your head in the sand and you won't see it so hey there isn't a problem.

If someone sees an animal with a plastic bag on its head or similar, they will take a photo of it. You may be old fashioned and carry no camera, but almost everyone else does and thus they WILL take a photo because it is a sensational thing to see an animal covered in plastic. And they will UPLOAD the photo, because that's what happens. And google will INDEX the photo as part of its image index. So almost all photos that exist are out there online. And what that means is that animals with plastic bags on them are rare. It's a simple statistical truth that everyone can see. You may want to get a better grip on the realities of the internet

Even if plastic kills "several hundred thousand animals a year" (wild guess/speculation? It may very well be true but what source do you have?) that's hardly relevant on a global scale. Millions more are killed in other ways. Plus if you had read my posts before, my argument is essentially that reducing plastic bag usage won't make a difference. Because there will still be billions of plastic bags in circulation. And many other types of plastics create much bigger problems, and that's not even talking about much more severe pollutants. So what I'm saying is that it's a feel good thing that makes no difference.

Not sure where you get the religious angle from, far as I remember nobody talked about anything religious on this thread.

However I'm getting fed up with repeating the same stuff every time, and there's a bunch of people on here who remain focused on the small things that make them feel good but make no difference in the real world. I've made my point, and am signing off from this thread because there's nothing more to say about the subject.

If it makes you happy and gives you a sense of purpose to reduce your plastic bag usage by a 100-odd bags a year, and think that is a great initiative that will save the world from death by plastic, go right ahead and dream on

Jeez, if only you could get your head stuck in a bag and then get the part around your neck tied tight, that would make me happy.

Hmm, if we eliminated one moron from the planet a day ... no I guess that wouldn't do it, as there are several billion morons on the planet. I guess we should just accpet that there will be a vast number of morons around us everyday.

[toybits]

Many years ago there was this thing called the paper bag. Other people called it the Brown bag.....It looked something like this.... (Sorry Shia)...

Edited April 28, 2013 by toybits

[rubberduck]

With 'targeting bla bla' the 'Department of Environmental Quality Promotion' will NEVER EVER change the mentality of an entire nation. Tired of this countries' never ending totally meaningless pretentions.

[hellodolly]

I seriously wonder about the entire grocery store business model. I am sure it isn't going anywhere, but what would be wrong with just ordering this stuff via telephone or online, and pulling up to a factory style "grocery store" and just having the goods loaded in within boxes. That or they deliver them for a small fee.

I think people just like to wander aimlessly wedged within isles of food. Something about the whole tactile nature of it all. I'd miss them, but would also be happy to see them go.

I see where several are going that way.

Never work for the wife she has to pick them up first and it makes no difference if it is in a can a jar or a loaf of bread she has to pick it up first and in over 6 years I have yet to see her take the first one she picks up.

[DannyApneaMartens]

Gonna be hard to buy a "bowl" of soup from a street vendor

If you eat it at the restaurant, they usually have dishes

If you want it for take away, well then there are ways to carry a little container in your bag.