Reducing the Use of Plastic Bags
Article Critique
The article focuses on the issue of excessive usage of plastic bags in Singapore, and explores the possibility of reducing this usage by levying a fee when large retail outlets issue plastic bags. While some retailers feel that a formal governmental legislation should be passed before proceeding with the charge, others feel that retailers should implement these measures even without such mandatory policies. As this measure may potentially be feasible and effective in reducing the usage of plastic bags in Singapore, the government should consider implementing such measures following the examples of Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Another key idea proposed is that it is beneficial to reduce usage of plastic bags. The need for this reduction is undeniable. Decomposition takes hundreds of years and results in toxic residue being released, infiltrating into soils and oceans, harming various lifeforms (Roach, 2003). These effects are indeed detrimental but may not be as damaging when compared to its alternatives.
Considering local efforts to reduce plastic bags usage, 100,000 plastic bags were reduced and 200,000 reusable bags were sold on the BYOB launch date (Ng, 2007). These statistics seemed encouraging. However, the environment department found that only 12 percent out of 45 percent of these shoppers would remember to bring them (Ram, 2010). This phenomenon is worrying as a study has found that reusable bags have to be reused at least 94 times before it causes less damage to our environment (Agresti, 2012). Furthermore, the US warned that reusable bags are the primary cause of food-borne illnesses due to the spread of Norovirus (Goodman, 2012). This presents a pressing need to assess if reducing the use of plastic bags is viable and favorable to citizens, the country and the environment as a whole.
As the saying goes, “Nature always strikes back”. The case in Hong Kong warns us that actions taken to mitigate this problem may lead to
The article focuses on the issue of excessive usage of plastic bags in Singapore, and explores the possibility of reducing this usage by levying a fee when large retail outlets issue plastic bags. While some retailers feel that a formal governmental legislation should be passed before proceeding with the charge, others feel that retailers should implement these measures even without such mandatory policies. As this measure may potentially be feasible and effective in reducing the usage of plastic bags in Singapore, the government should consider implementing such measures following the examples of Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Another key idea proposed is that it is beneficial to reduce usage of plastic bags. The need for this reduction is undeniable. Decomposition takes hundreds of years and results in toxic residue being released, infiltrating into soils and oceans, harming various lifeforms (Roach, 2003). These effects are indeed detrimental but may not be as damaging when compared to its alternatives.
Considering local efforts to reduce plastic bags usage, 100,000 plastic bags were reduced and 200,000 reusable bags were sold on the BYOB launch date (Ng, 2007). These statistics seemed encouraging. However, the environment department found that only 12 percent out of 45 percent of these shoppers would remember to bring them (Ram, 2010). This phenomenon is worrying as a study has found that reusable bags have to be reused at least 94 times before it causes less damage to our environment (Agresti, 2012). Furthermore, the US warned that reusable bags are the primary cause of food-borne illnesses due to the spread of Norovirus (Goodman, 2012). This presents a pressing need to assess if reducing the use of plastic bags is viable and favorable to citizens, the country and the environment as a whole.
As the saying goes, “Nature always strikes back”. The case in Hong Kong warns us that actions taken to mitigate this problem may lead to
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