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  Today Online 17 Apr 07
Plastic, not fantastic: Campaign to curb plastic-bag wastage starts tomorrow
Letter from Ong Seng Eng Director, Resource Conservation Department National Environment Agency

Channel NewsAsia 11 Apr 07
NEA launches campaign to encourage shoppers to use reusable bags

SINGAPORE : You can do your bit to help cut down global warming - all you have to do is buy a reusable shopping bag, and use it in place of plastic bags which are harmful to the environment.

This is part of a new campaign by Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA) which starts next week. It is aimed at reducing the amount of waste created.

This latest campaign by the NEA is about changing mindsets of shoppers. That is why it's working with seven food retailers to sell reusable bags.

From next week, shoppers who still want a plastic bag will be asked to make a 10 cent donation. And starting in May, the first Wednesday of each month will be dedicated for shoppers to bring their own bag. The NEA hopes to increase the low 2% of shoppers using reusable bags.

But bringing your own bag clearly needs some getting used to.

"Well I guess you would have to remember to bring it all the time. That's one. And I wonder how big it is as it may be a bit inconvenient if you bring it along with you all the time, especially if you're on a bus or on a MRT," says one member of the public.

"It is good but habits are hard to change. Moreover, they are still giving us free plastic bags," says another.

Singapore consumes 2.5 billion plastic bags each year.

"We noticed that over the years, more and more plastic bags are being used. So we felt it is important that we start educating our people on how they should use the plastic bags," says Lee Yuen Hee, CEO of NEA.

Singapore incinerates its waste plastic bags and burning a tonne of them produces almost 2,900 kilograms of carbon dioxide - the gas that causes global warming.

Global warming is the reason why glaciers melt, causing sea levels to rise. And that is a serious issue for islands like Singapore.

And some plastic bags end up as rubbish, polluting beaches and clogging up waterways & drains.

"Each year, we do waste studies in incineration plants, and found a large amount of plastic bags unused and thrown away by people as trash items. This indicates that there is huge room for us to cut down the wastage," says Yang Hong, Senior Environment Health Executive, Resource Conservation Department, NEA.

And that's why, instead of promoting retailers to switch to biodegradable bags, NEA's strategy is to focus on public education, as everyone has a part to play. - CNA /ls

Today Online 17 Apr 07
Plastic, not fantastic Campaign to curb plastic-bag wastage starts tomorrow
Letter from Ong Seng Eng Director, Resource Conservation Department National Environment Agency

WE WOULD like to thank the various writers for their support and valuable feedback on the Bring Your Own Bag Day (BYOBD) campaign.

The BYOBD is a campaign jointly conducted by the National Environment Agency (NEA), the Singapore Environment Council (SEC) and the major supermarkets (Carrefour, Cold Storage, Giant, NTUC Fairprice, Prime Supermarket, Sheng Siong and Shop N Save) to raise awareness and educate the public on how to curb wastage of plastic bags.

The first BYOBD will be held tomorrow and, subsequently, on the first Wednesday of each month. On BYOBD, shoppers who do not bring their own bags can purchase reusable bags available at the participating stores. The checkout staff of participating stores will still provide plastic bags to shoppers if they need them for their purchases. Shoppers may be asked if they will donate 10 cents for each plastic bag taken. The proceeds will go to the SEC, a registered charity organisation, to fund its environmental outreach programmes.

We are aware that many shoppers re-use plastic shopping bags to bag refuse before disposing into refuse chutes or bins. This is a good hygiene practice, which the NEA encourages.

However, many loose and unused bags are still being thrown away. This is a waste of resources and results in unnecessary garbage.

Hence, we would like to appeal to shoppers to take just enough plastic bags for their purchases which they can then reuse to bag refuse prior to disposing it.

The NEA has been working with supermarkets to provide training for check-out staff on how to pack purchases using a minimal number of bags. When you bring your own bags, please inform and pass the bags to the checkout staff.

We welcome more retailers to join the BYOBD campaign. Retailers who are interested can contact the NEA at 1800 CALL NEA.

At the same time, we would like to urge readers to support this campaign by bringing their own shopping bags. Our efforts to reduce the wastage of plastic bags are invaluable in striving for a better environment for ourselves and our children.
links
Bring Your Own Bag Day on the NEA website

Related articles about Singapore: plastic bags efforts to reduce use of plastic bags, issues, discussions
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