Low Impact

One of the interesting news stories today was a leaked report for the Federal Government revealing that 4 billion plastic bags were used in Australia in 2007. This is actually an increase on the previous year’s figures of 3.3 billion a year. That’s an increase of over 20% at a time when more households than ever are indicating a concern for the environment.

So, what’s going on? Its not a lack of alternatives – all the supermarkets carry “green” reusable bags now. Even the fashion chains are getting into it with “I am not a plastic bag” logo-emblazoned bags!

If I had to guess, I’d put it down to a simple matter of inconvenience. With our hectic lifestyles, people race off to work first thing in the morning, finish up late at night, then speed off to pick up the kids from childcare before picking up a few ingredients for dinner at the local grocery store. It could be that remembering to pack a green bag in the car is the last thing on their mind.

Another possibility is that people don’t think its that big a deal. Plastic bags are small, after all. And it’s just one night’s shopping – how much difference can that make? The problem is that it all adds up. As the figures from the leaked report show, it adds up to be 200 bags for every man, woman, child and infant in Australia.

Not wanting to depress you any further, but those 4 billion plastic bags we used aren’t going anywhere soon. In fact, some scientists’ estimates of the lifetime of those plastic bags means that those plastic bags will outlast you, your kids, your grandkids, all the way up to 3008. Yup – 1000 years. Looking at it in a glass-half-full kind of way, thats kind of impressive. But I’m sure there are better examples of the fruits of our society that we’d like to last down the ages…

The good news is that the government is looking to do something about it. In fact, their plan is to phase them out by the end of the year. Whether that happens by simply banning plastic bags, or by applying some sort of levy is undecided. Ireland has had good success with the latter approach, whilst a number of small Australian towns have also been successful with the former.

Of course, we don’t have to wait for the government to take action on our behalf. All it takes is for each of us to make the effort to bring a bag with us when we go shopping. With the huge range of inexpensive “green bags” available ranging from free to a few dollars, its one of the easiest and cheapest ways we can reduce our impact on the environment.

Categories: environment, green, reduce

Tags: green bag, plastic, plastic bag, waste