South Australia Bans Plastic Bags

Hello, I’m Charlotte Bellis, and you’re watching Newsy.com.

On Monday, South Australia became the first state in Australia to ban plastic shopping bags.

The ban’s goal is to reduce the 400 million bags a year South Australians throw away.

AdelaideNow took to the street to get people’s opinions on the new ban.

“I’m not upset about it because they’ve got to start somewhere don’t they? We’ll have to look out for the environment, I suppose getting rid of that is a start. There’s always pros and cons to every argument”. “I have no problem with the plastic bag ban. I think the sooner people get used to it the better off being and shouldn’t wait to start because it’s good for the environment” (AdelaideNow)

ABC News Australia reports while most shoppers reacted positively, not everyone is happy.

" 'Ridiculous. Bloody waste of time. It's just a stunt. I refuse to buy [reusable bags]," one shopper said.
"I'm going to have a hard time trying to remember each time. I think I'm going to struggle," said another." (ABC News)

ABC News Australia also talks to the Clean Up Australia chairman, who emphasizes why the state needs to reduce plastic bag waste.

“They are a major, major component of the waste that we’re collecting. Not the most common, the most common is still the cigarette butt, but plastic bags are very much there and you know they’re very durable they’re very cumulative and they can stay in the environment for a long, long time” (ABC News)

An opinion piece in New Zealand’s The Press points out the underlying issue is not plastic bags, but other poorly designed everyday household items.  

“Other examples include non-refillable plastic pens, non-reusable plastic fast- food containers, outdoor heaters, leaf blowers, and electric carving knives. Why is it not mandatory for all products to be designed so that their manufacture, use and disposal has minimum impact on the environment?” (The Press)

South Australia’s decision to ban plastic bags follows the lead of several other nations and continues a trend that may soon reach the United States.

American Chronicle reports American Congressman Jim Moran has introduced the Plastic Bag Reduction Act, which would encourage using environmentally friendly bags by placing…

“…a 5 cent fee on "single use" bags from grocery stores and other retail outlets in order to encourage reusable bag use.  [It] would allocate the funding generated to land and water conservation programs, to pay down the national debt, and to cover the costs for local businesses to implement the program.” (American Chronicle)