Plastic bag ban creates issues

WHILE plastic bags do harm our environment and can kill our marine life, such as turtles, a blanket ban on “single-use” bags is extreme.

Yes, there is nothing worse than seeing plastic bags, as well as other litter such as empty cans and wrappings, on our roadsides, parks and gardens, beaches and in waterways.

But isn’t it more about educating people about the careful disposal of, as well as, the recycling of the bags?

Plastic bags have a multitude of second, third and fourth uses, such as containing wet clothes and towels and to carry a six pack or a couple of bottles of wine and be used as a rubbish bag at parties.

They are used to pick up dog droppings and used to dispose of household waste instead of having to buy heavier bin liner bags, which take a lot longer to breakdown at landfills.

South Australia banned plastic bags in 2009 and four years later residents were buying bin liners at the rate of about six times more than before the ban.

You will still be able to buy plastic bags but will be charged 15c each.

We will have to be prepared by taking recycling bags with us everywhere, but that is not always practical.

Not included in the ban are “barrier bags” for fruit, vegetables and meat on the grounds of health and food safety to avoid crosscontamination, which could become an issue now the plastic bag is banned.

Perhaps we should bring back the plain old paper bag, which served many generations well and were not such a menace to turtles, dolphins and blocked creeks and didn’t cause a health risk.

But that then poses the question: What about our forests? Nick Dalton nick.dalton@news.com.au