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  Today Online 5 Jun 06
No plastic while shopping, please
 Teo Xuanwei xuanweit@newstoday.com.sg

Leave your hands off the plastic when you are shopping, for today at least. The plastic bags, that is.

In support of World Environment Day, 13 major supermarket and retail chains, including NTUC Fairprice, Cold Storage and 7-Eleven, will go all out to woo shoppers to bring along their own shopping bags, by dangling freebies and discounts.

This follows the ongoing "Why waste plastic bags? Choose reusable bags!" campaign that was started in February by the National Environment Agency (NEA), Singapore Environment Council (SEC) and the band of 13 retailers.

Since this crusade began, retailers reported that shoppers have snapped up some 75,000 reusable bags at the 686 participating outlets.

Although the retailers said response to the reusable bags have been encouraging, surveys show that shoppers who actually bring their own shopping bags only come up to a measly two per cent.

Said Mr Ong Seng Eng, NEA's head of resource conservation department: "The percentage may be small, but it is an important step in the right direction. We need to sustain the campaign message and convince more shoppers to switch to reusable bags."

To entice more people to cultivate this habit, the retailers have crafted a range of incentives for shoppers today. Among them: The first 200 Carrefour shoppers who spend more than $50 will receive free reusable bags; Prime Supermarket, Cold Storage and Shop N Save will also sell reusable bags at discounted prices; while NTUC customers who use the supermarket's reusable bags will get a free 1.5-litre bottle of mineral water.

Retail staff have also been trained to encourage shoppers to use fewer plastic bags.

Plans to rope in other parties like hawkers and smaller neighbourhood shops are in the pipeline, said Mr Yatin Premchand, senior manager of SEC. "Quite of number of retailers are aware of this campaign. I believe most are looking at how consumers respond as the campaign gains momentum before coming on board," he said.

In response to suggestions of having a "No Plastic Bags Day" that have been mooted previously, a NEA spokesperson said the idea will be considered at "an appropriate time".
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