No wonder the Japanese succeed at everything

Clearly they are a more evolved society than most others. Elsewhere, governments are facing opposition from retailers when they propose a tax on plastic bags, but not in Japan. Here, the Japan Chain Stores Association have themselves called for a law to enable stores to charge customers for plastic shopping bags. The industry body said retailers have incurred growing costs for recycling plastic trays and other recyclable containers. It said if those costs continue to increase, some retailers might become unable to shoulder the burden and Japan's "recycling system might collapse." What an admirable perspective. Smart guys, the Japanese. Look at how clean Japan is. Bring in a tax on plastic bags and usage does drop. It fell 95% in Ireland. Getting used to carrying reusable cloth bags is obviously something humans can adapt to fairly quickly. For those who forget to carry it or want the luxury of not needing to carry it, a small tax makes sense. Before plastic bags started getting distributed free after the 70s, we managed didn’t we? Reusable cloth bags are attractive and affordable as you can see at http://www.badlani.com/bags

Witches Knickers

Barbara Wallraff tells us in the The Atlantic Monthly that this is what the Irish call fugitive plastic bags that fly around and snag everywhere. Completely fitting. Lee Buenaventura, of Wellesley, Massachusetts, felt nearly the same way, but she suggested giving the term a "tweak" to Americanize it: witches' britches. Other interesting American terms: Urban Tumbleweed, Shoppers' Kites; Sheilah Zimpel, of Raleigh, North Carolina, wrote, "Here in the South we call that white trash." A whole new lexicon is emerging to describe this blight. I’ll soon add some non-American terms that are being used. What words would you use to describe things that are killing animals and marine life, poisoning your food, compromising the masculinity of unborn boys or being just plain ugly? All contributions welcome. The reusable bags we offer at http://www.badlani.com/bags are attractive, affordable and a whole lot healthier for our planet and for our lives.

Preity’s no bimbette

Contradicting the clichéd assumption that babes lack brains, Bollywood superstar Priety Zinta is clearly a thinking woman. ‘‘I want to urge people not to litter and turn our city into a big dump before we all die of diseases and toxic poisoning,’’ she fumes. The first thing on Zinta’s agenda is to ask the authorities to ban plastic bags in Maharashtra. ‘‘We have to stop using polythene bags. We must adopt brown bags. They have banned plastic in Shimla and it’s already looking good,’’ she reasons.Preity, we already have a law against plastic bags but it isn’t implemented. And brown bags, by which I assume you mean paper bags, aren’t a great option. Paper bags are made by cutting down trees that take more than 20 years to grow. When they are cut to spread literature and news and knowledge, maybe it’s worth it, but to make a paper bag that gets used just once? Terribly wasteful, in my opinion. Cloth bags are reusable and that’s the real answer. The sign of a mature society is when people give up a little convenience for the overall good of their environment. Carrying one’s own shopping bags is a small price to pay to pay for a cleaner city. And the price is truly small as you can see at http://www.badlani.com/bags/ Mumbaikars ought to be specially sensitive to this. Discarded plastic bags contributed substantially to creating the choking of drains that led to the recent floods the city experienced.

The world may be passing us by while we dither

Plastic is a wonderful invention. But plastic bags are a menace. It is the most idiotic way to use a material that has a life of 3000 years. Use it for stuff where its long life is an advantage, such as making boats that last longer, houses and roofs for the poor that don't decompose every time it rains, roads that last longer, not for making bags that will be used once and thrown away. The world has caught on and is taking action, but in India, even though we have a law banning throw-away plastic bags, you see them all over the place. Shops abandon plastic bags Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia - Oct 10, 2004 The State Government, City of Port Phillip and South Melbourne Market contributed $12,000 to help Elwood retailers bin plastic bags in favour of reusable paper ... Project aims to bin plastic bags Belfast Telegraph (subscription), United Kingdom - Oct 16, 2004 ... Plastic bags will still be available but anyone who uses them will be expected to make a small donation to charity when paying for their goods at the counter. ... Liberals would ban free plastic bags Ninemsn, Australia - Oct 13, 2004 ACT opposition environment spokeswoman Vicki Dunne said a Liberal government would ban single-use non-biodegradable plastic bags by 2006. ... Rwanda shuts businesses after banning plastic bags Reuters AlertNet, UK - Oct 4, 2004 KIGALI, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Rwandan authorities are shutting down shops and police are stopping people on the street for using plastic bags, which were recently ... Rwanda's war on plastic bags BBC News, UK - Oct 4, 2004 Thousands of Rwandans have taken the day off work to pick up plastic bags as part of a government attempt to clean up the environment. ... Rwanda clamps down on plastic bags Independent Online, South Africa - Oct 5, 2004 Kigali - Rwandan authorities are shutting down supermarkets and police are accosting people for using plastic bags, which were banned in August. ... Environment Society to launch campaigns Times of Oman, Oman - 10 hours ago ... A campaign, which aims at educating the public about the harms of plastic bags and how one can help save his/her surroundings by simply reusing the plastic bags ... Stores to be fined if offering free plastic bags 東森新聞報, Taiwan - Sep 27, 2004 ... Protection Administration launched another random check on stores to make sure that owners kept to the regulation of using only plastic bags thicker than 0.06 ... Meanwhile, in India, superpower, world’s largest democracy, a country that takes on the biggies where nuclear power and satellite technology is concerned; a country that has the best and brightest minds in the world, a ban on plastic bags exists but only on paper. Successive governments continue to make laws they can’t enforce. These are the truths of our great and confusing nation. Really sad. At www.badlani.com/bags/ we continue to sell cloth bags to people all over the world. Sadly we don't have any customers in India.

Welcome to a new friend

I’m writing this about a pretty young lady named Ryfka who is just joining the ranks of the green nuisances, us folks who go around evangelizing about the evil of plastic bags. She lives in Kent, which is down the road from Seattle in Washington State. As her blog has yet to begin to roll, here’s what she’s going to write later today at http://20six.co.uk/seattlegirl1 : “Puget Sound” In Trouble Residents of Seattle and Canada have discarded millions of gallons of unrefined sewage and some of the most awful toxic chemicals imaginable into the beautiful Puget Sound, damaging what was once one of the United State’s richest ecosystems Negligent residents have over fished, poisoning much-loved Orcas, ruined shoreline habitation and due to the waste of discarded plastic, pop-cans (ever so popular with the teenagers), and glass bottles the devastation resumes. Soon we will live in a garbage heap…unless, people in Washington stepped up and did they daily due by using nature-friendly and cost effective products that are reusable such as cloth bags. Instead of killing trees for paper carriers or using harmful plastic bags that most of us don’t recycle, cloth seems like a great starting point and a stepping stone to a cleaner, unpolluted world. Since the beginning of March, supermarkets, stores, and small shops in Great Britain have been forced to charge shoppers 9 pence or an approximate 15 cents tax on each plastic bag that a consumer would use for his/her purchase. The initiative on the bag-tax was introduced as an attempt to control the litter and pollution problem created by so many people throwing away their plastic shopping bags, and thus far it appears to be effective. Results? Shoppers are now switching back to the good-ol’ cloth carriers just to save a few hard earned bucks at the checkout counter. If countries such as the UK are profiting on this simple-effectual idea, then why isn’t the United States jumping on it? Since we are, according to the entire world, the largest waste producers, such a straightforward and uncomplicated tax would solve many of our waste issues. I live in Washington, one of the most beautiful states of America, I can tell you personally that I have seen a gross amount of plastic being distributed at just grocery stores. On an average 200 plastic bags are given out at a single food-store everyday in Seattle…this alone should start to alarm people. I think its time we step up as the largest and most powerful country in the world and fix the big problems first. This one, its one of the biggest problems we have. It will kill us as surely as any terrorist can. You can bet on it. As a citizen of this beautiful northwest, I want to tell the folks who run Washington sate that I’d like to see a tax on plastic bags. Its not going to be popular but its going to save our earth! Well said, Ryfka! Not only is she pretty, this girl thinks! I wish there were a million more like her. That’s what our mission is folks, keep it clean! Use the products we have on www.badlani.com/bags/ .That’s why we make ‘em.