New move to cut use of plastic bags

The Sunday Times, Feb 12 2006

I think that the National Environment Agency's(NEA) move to cut the use of plastic bags is a good one and i support it. By cutting the use of plastic bags, the NEA helps to save resources for Singapore and also the problem of space shortage when plastic bags are dumped in landfills. Currently Singapore's average of 1.7 bags per person a day is better than some countries but not up to par with those in America and Australia. The NEA hopes to reduce the use of excesive plastic bags, as carelessly disposed plastic bags can end up as litter and collect water and become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. To encourage the use of reusable bags in supermarkets and some stores, the NEA works with some supermarket chains and offer incentives to customers who use reusable bags. I feel that the incentives are very appealing and it is an effective way to get people to start using reusable bags and less of plastic bags. I believe that this idea will indeed work for a short period of time. However in the long run, i think that the people will eventually get bored of the incentives and would not bother to use reusable bags and revert back to using plastic bags. This can be seen from previous years as there have been stores that encouraged the use of reusable bags but the response was not that great. But with more campaigns and emphasis on the use of reusable bags, i believe that Singapore will one day be able to reduce the number of plastic bags used. All it takes is just time for the people to get used to the idea on using reusable bags.