Luke Hamblen
One is a sleepy tourist village; the other is a megapolis half a world away. While Coles Bay in Tasmania and Mexico City have little in common, they do share a determination to remove plastic bags from circulation once and for all.
In doing so they sow seeds of hope that a sustainable nationwide ban will be a reality in Australia sooner rather than later.
Last month in Mexico City, legislators approved a bill that will hit store owners or operators with one-and-a-half days in jail and fines of about $77,400 for giving customers plastic bags for their purchases. Businesses in the city of 8.8 million will have one year to switch to more suitable bags. Biodegradable plastic bags will be exempted, the International Herald Tribune reported.
While not as dramatic a measure, six years earlier Coles Bay became the first community in Australia to ban the use of plastic bags. The move’s supporters say this has resulted in 1.75 million fewer plastic bags ending up as landfill.
Jon Dee, who campaigned for the ban along with the 2005 Australian of the Year, Ben Kearney, said the ban had been a huge success.
Australian-made paper bags, as well as reusable bags, were offered to customers in place of the environmentally damaging plastic bags.
“The people of Coles Bay and the visitors have got into the habit of bringing their own bags because knowing free plastic bags are not available makes this a lot easier,” Dee says.
Local supermarket worker Jackie Smythe said there has been little problem with the policy once people adapted to it. “Everyone has just gotten used to it and it doesn’t really cause any trouble at all,” she says.
In New South Wales, the communities of Huskisson, Kangaroo Valley, Mogo and Oyster Bay have also outlawed plastic bags.
James Cavanagh, who works in a supermarket in Huskisson, on the state’s south coast, said business had not been hurt by the ban.
“After a while everyone just gets used to it and forgets that they ever used to get given plastic bags. We really do not need them,” he says.
Clean Up Australia chairman Ian Kiernan said these communities had used their initiative and set an example for the rest of Australia.
“Communities across Australia have already taken the lead by banning plastic bags in their own towns and suburbs,” Kiernan says.
While the success of the ban in these towns is a positive step, the success of bans in much larger cities suggests a ban would do Australia no harm.
Despite having a reputation of not being the most environmentally conscious of countries as its economy leaps forward, China banned ultra-light plastic bags in 2008.
Intended to clean up the streets as China prepared to host the Olympic Games in 2008, the ban remains in force.
Kiernan said the ban has further embarrassed Australia: “If China can ban plastic bags there is absolutely no reason Australia can’t.”
Further evidence that larger cities can handle bans is the prohibition enforced in San Francisco. The city, which has a population of roughly 809,000, banned plastic bags in 2007.
Mark Westlund, from the San Francisco environment department, said the ban has been a great success. “All of the grocery stores were in compliance even before the ban came into effect, and we have had virtually no complaints,” he says.
In a sign that the bans around the world have made an impression in Australia, South Australia has begun phasing out plastic bags.
The state’s Minister for Environment and Conservation, Jay Weatherill, is excited about the potential success of the phase-out.
“It may take a while for people to get used to the change but we believe it will be good for our environment and will confirm South Australia’s reputation as a leader on tackling environmental issues,” he says.
Other countries which have banned plastic bags include South Africa, Eritrea, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Bangladesh.
Countries such as Ireland have levied a heavy tax on the bags to discourage their use.