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Published on December 2, 2007

So how many fewer plastic bags are you using since Governor Apirak Kosayodhin asked city residents in September to reduce waste as a way to combat global warming?

I wandered between Big C, Tesco Lotus and Tops on Rama II road a week ago to count the canvas bags people were carrying.

After three hours of plastic, plastic and more plastic, I gave up. Many people I spoke to were certainly aware of the campaign, a testament to the Bangkok Metropolitan Association's media machine, but most felt it was inconvenient to buy canvas bags and remember to take them on shopping trips. Some argued they needed plastic for household rubbish.

"Certainly, I've heard about the canvas-bag campaign on television, but where do we buy them?" asked Nisa, a Tesco Lotus shopper. "They're not available anywhere in this store, or if they are, they'd be expensive. I've seen some at a nearby flea market, though they didn't look so nice, at Bt40 to Bt50 each. Plus I often buy loads of stuff: how many of those bags would I have to buy?"

I decided instead to head inside the store in search of canvas bags for shoppers.

No canvas or environmentally friendly shopping bags to be found. At the cash registers, however, you could buy more sturdy, reusable plastic bags for Bt11.

Tesco Lotus senior vice president Darmp Sukontasap said the company had no plans in the near future to eliminate plastic bags or to charge customers extra for them.

"We can't force change before people are ready. A lot more public education is needed. Otherwise customers may think we're taking advantage of them if we charge for bags. You know, we're still in a situation where customers ask for extra bags, and they complain if they don't get them," Darmp said.

"Carrying canvas bags is becoming trendy," he added. "I hope it's not just a flash in the pan. If we have to make the change, we want to make sure it's sustained."

That will be encouraging news for the Green Bag Project, an initiative by students from the International School Bangkok. They launched their own canvas-bag project two months before Governor Apirak embraced the idea. Their bags and message are already available at high-end department stores like Siam Paragon and The Emporium. The proceeds go to the Green World Foundation.

However, voluntary campaigns by retailers pumping millions of plastic bags into the waste-stream are not known for their success. For years, one of the greenest-leaning cities in the world, San Francisco, had its share of canvas-bag-toting shoppers; but it was never enough. City officials then tried working with larger supermarkets to encourage them to voluntarily implement programmes to reduce plastic-bag use. That failed to meet agreed-upon targets.

So this month San Francisco will begin banning plastic bags from supermarkets and any other store with more than five outlets. Other major cities in the US are now exploring plastic-bag regulations, too.

"It would be great if people on their own chose to do the right thing, but society sometimes doesn't work that way," says Saree Aungsomwang, president of the Consumers Federation of Thailand. "If Bangkok's going to get serious about plastic bags, plastic bottles or even transport, we, like other cities, will need to implement new laws. Otherwise we're probably wasting more energy and generating more waste with campaign signs than we're saving. A tiny fraction only are diligently using their own shopping bags."

"And - let's be honest - we're not going to stop global warming by getting rid of plastic bags," says the veteran consumer-protection activist.

Indeed, the estimated 500 billion bags consumed annually around the world account for about 12 million barrels of oil, just .04 per cent of the 30 billion barrels the world uses each year. No, the real problem, campaigners state, is that once those bags are used, they live for another 1,000 years, polluting our cities, lands and coastlines.

I asked Bangkok Deputy Governor Bannasopit Mekwichai what sort of reduction Bangkok was hoping to achieve with its campaign and what would happen if these goals were not met.

"Oh, we don't really have any target. We're just trying to make people aware of the problem. However, while the campaign is gaining momentum, we've heard counter-productive public statements from some government officials, like plastic-dumping sites will turn into oil wells in a thousand years as plastic is a petroleum product. How ridiculous!"

Such limitations are unfortunate. Ireland, for example, has shown how effective government leadership can be. In 2002 the country implemented a tax on plastic bags and managed to reduce use by 90 per cent.

Tesco Lotus' Darmp acknowledged its 100 or so stores in Ireland have no problem with the policy. "If something like that were implemented here we would gladly go along, but we can't do it on our own or we would lose customers to our competitors."

Even in a poor country like Bangladesh, a plastic-bag ban has been in effect for several years. Now one sees jute and recycled cement bags used by Dhaka's shoppers.

"If Bangladesh can do it, so can we," Saree said. "Reusable shopping bags must become the norm. While getting rid of plastic bags in and of itself may not cool the planet, their continuous use is emblematic of the throwaway culture that, on the whole, is entirely responsible for global warming.

"If we can't take a simple step like this, how are we going to tackle the larger menu of policy and lifestyle changes necessary to bring things back into balance?"

Nantiya Tangwisutijit

The Nation