Plastic shopping bags

Satish Nakched, Suva

It is a sad sight to note that during the low tide around the estuary areas there are so many plastic shopping bags clinging on to the mangrove roots and stems, which has resulted from people throwing the refuse recklessly. This may be biodegradable but it takes a while to dissolve and cause huge environment effects. That abuse is very noticeable in the informal settlements along the coastal areas where there is no garbage collection system and the rivers and the streams are used by the residents for disposal.

The plastic shopping bags probably top the rubbish list, which is constantly pushed further inland during high tides. I believe one way to control or eliminate the shopping bag problem is for supermarkets to levy a charge per bags to the customers. The educational and the awareness programmes must be implemented and the customers are to be encouraged to bring in their own bags for shopping. There are many empty cartons available at the supermarkets that could be used as well. This concept is a more environment friendly approach which contributes to a lot of benefits.

The cotton or bags sworn out of the flour packages can be reused numerous times. Hence garbage will be very less. Municipalities will save lot of money while transporting daily waste. Fruits, vegetables and seeds could not get spoiled if you bring them in cotton bags. You can protect their freshness for a longer period of time.

Drains will be free from plastic waste and will minimise danger to animal life on land and water. In the upcoming Ocean’s Conference, we must make a strong statement in curbing this threat which continues to escalate daily.