[Sleuth]

Originally Posted by timklip

I agree, but the company doing the charging (or denying of bags) has to have the balls to stick to their policy in the face of the ensuing sh*t-storm...let's hope Watson's does...I won't be holding my breath

Everybody wants to save the environment, as long as it is someone else is the one doing all the saving.
The ulitimate in free-rider benefits to the guy who gets the clean environment without having to actually perform any sacrifices himself.

[Misty]

All it takes is for it to be a government initiative with lots of advertisement before it's introduced. Make it compulsory for all shops so you avoid people only using the shops that provide a free bag making it unfair to those trying to do the right thing.
In Ireland they introduced a 20 Euro cent charge for plastic bags and it was amazing how many people brought there own bags rather than pay for them. It also means you can still get a bag when you need too. Other stores gave away paper bags instead.

[WalkAbout]

~ i thought the NEW plastic bags were biodegradable, and why is this not mandatory. or simply use paper.

~ the stores and government mandate should be responsible for a solution, not the consumer.

~ count how many other things are wrapped in plastic (or made of plastic), just about everything.
(is that acrylic/rayon shirt you have biodegradable ? )

~ what do you put garbage in ? i used to use all the plastic grocery bags but now i BUY plastic garbage bags to dispose garbage.

with basic questions unanswered and the problem pushed down to the consumer i wonder what is the real issue or is this plastic bag issue being used as a deflector.

[KnowItAll]

To those saying .. the charge has to bite and hk is all about money -- lets not forget the sizable population that is on welfare or fixed pensions. Lots of folks have to make it through the month with VERY little money ... and no they don't live in Mid Levels.

[Sleuth]

Originally Posted by KnowItAll

To those saying .. the charge has to bite and hk is all about money -- lets not forget the sizable population that is on welfare or fixed pensions. Lots of folks have to make it through the month with VERY little money ... and no they don't live in Mid Levels.

If they bought one of those reusable bags, they wouldn't have to pay every time they went to the store. It's more a one-time cost, not an on-going, regressive tax.

[timklip]

and if the cost of the reusable bags is beyond their means, what's wrong with reusing the old plastic bags (wet market meat bags excluded!)...? its a matter of educating people and changing old habits in the end, not so much about money...the money issue (in my opinion) is the last gasp measure if people still can't adapt

[Crocodile]

Originally Posted by WalkAbout

~ the stores and government mandate should be responsible for a solution, not the consumer.

What? So you are not going to do anything until there is a government mandate? *sigh* ... so consumers can't be responsible?

[jaykay]

In reply to both the threads above that only works if you are carrying these bags around with you all the time. I'm certainly not going to walk out of my door, out of my office, out of anywhere in fact with plastic bags or re-usable bags just in case I may have to pop into P'n'S, Wellcome, 7-11, etc. That's just crazy.........

But what I will do however is buy the plastic rubbish bags that are twice the size if my bin (cos thats all I can get where I am) and now throw away twice the amount of plastic every time I empty my bin. Now that should keep the environmentalists happy because I'm not not using plastic bags to take home my shopping and re-use a rubbish bags......go figure!

[mumo3]

Funny I've always thought of myself as being environmentally conscious - I recycle my plastic bags as garbage bags. If I agree to this stupid campaign that means I will pay an extra 20 dollars for garbage bags to Parknshop who will likely make another 5 dollar profit - DUH!

These are the same companies who would sell you individually wrapped "convenient" packs of cookies, snacks, tissues and what have you - all of which add to the mountains of plastic and garbage that HK collects everyday. Where's the environmental consciousness in that? They have the clout to say no to that but they would rather make their customers pay ..

[timklip]

i think alot of people recycle their PnS bags as rubbish bags...the problem is it's not a one to one ratio...in other words, people ( i at least, and prob most ppl with a family) tend to take home more bags than they use as rubbish, so they keep multiplying...makes sense to do your purposeful shopping trips with reusable/reused bags, then use the occasional impulse-buy bags for rubbish...