Are they still using those signle-use plastic shopping bags in Canada, Catherine? What about the USA, I wonder? Probably they are still available there, too. Although formal legislation came fairly recently in France, in practice supermarkets stopped giving out flimsy plastic bags many years ago. For a transitionary period (about six months), they gave out one long-term, sturdy, bag for free to each customer - which then had to be reused until it was too tatty to be reused. Most people (ourselves included) used more than one supermarket, so got a free one from each - resulting in a sufficient number for weekly shopping.
In the years since then, that type of long-use bag has been the ONLY one available in stores, although they are not expensive (a few centimes). These sturdy bags last for years; we have some that are at least five years old. These sturdy bags can then be exchanged for new ones free of charge, with the old ones being sent by the supermarket for recycling. The system works well and everyone I know seems happy with it.
I do not see why such a system could not be used in every country of the world.
Later edit to this post: I had to resort to trusty Wikipedia for the current situation in the world about flimsy non-reusable bags:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_...astic_bags
We still have a long way to go yet in some countries - especially in the USA, which is lagging way behind most countries. Since the USA uses a phenominal amount of throw-away plastics, it is precisely there that a ban is needed urgently!
Regarding the so-called biodegradable plastic bags, they are an improvement but not an ideal solution:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...astic-bags
In the years since then, that type of long-use bag has been the ONLY one available in stores, although they are not expensive (a few centimes). These sturdy bags last for years; we have some that are at least five years old. These sturdy bags can then be exchanged for new ones free of charge, with the old ones being sent by the supermarket for recycling. The system works well and everyone I know seems happy with it.
I do not see why such a system could not be used in every country of the world.
Later edit to this post: I had to resort to trusty Wikipedia for the current situation in the world about flimsy non-reusable bags:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_...astic_bags
We still have a long way to go yet in some countries - especially in the USA, which is lagging way behind most countries. Since the USA uses a phenominal amount of throw-away plastics, it is precisely there that a ban is needed urgently!
Regarding the so-called biodegradable plastic bags, they are an improvement but not an ideal solution:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...astic-bags
