Cannot Imaging Plastic Bags Rarely Used Now in China

China is one of the latest places to ban non-biodegradable plastic bags from supermarkets, grocery stores and markets. The notice includes a ban on the production of ultra-thin plastic bags (thinner than 0.025 mm) that are not biodegradable. New criteria will be made on the production of plastic bags while more durable plastic bags still will be permitted for sale by markets and shops.

In order for people to comply with the ban the notice says that government at various levels must be responsible and those who fail to observe the ban will face disciplinary penalties. The ban takes effect shortly before the Beijing Summer Olympic Games which has already speeded up other measures to try and reduce pollution and smog in the capital.

Cloth grocery bags, which were barely seen in China before the ban was issued, becomes the must-have for every family. Prices range from free to several hundred yuan RMB, which indicates a new business and a huge market. At an import and export fair last month, a variety types of cloth bags were shown by some fabric companies who are eager to open up the marker originally belonged to the plastic bags, according to Xinhua news.

Wise Companies Take This Opportunity to Give Free Promotion Gift Bag

This “Green bag” business does not only benefit the fabric manufacturer. Epson launched its grocery bag design competition and Nokia gave out its fancy cloth bag for free to housewives in some communities in Beijing several weeks ago. Of course, those bags all have their companies’ logos on, which might be a kind of “soft ad”.

Some local real estate agents are more straightforward - just put their ads on the bags and everyone who carries this bag help to promote them. Greenbang could not imagine life without plastic bags a few months ago, and was worried about how the ban on plastic bags really carried out and whether people would accept this “radical” policy. But it seems going well at the moment, and with the help of so many pretty grocery bags, people will get rid of their relationship with plastic bags soon. In case the same embarrassing thing happens again in the supermarket, Greenbang now puts a grocery bag in her handbag.

The value of promotional gifts in today's competitive marketplace can’t be underestimated. Many businesses nowadays turn to promotional gifts to help them enhance their brand awareness, improve customer loyalty and increase sales.

A very common promotion gift is bag, but at this time, many companies changed there previous plastic bag to the cotton or nylon one, trying to catch up this coming trend and the receiver are also happy to got this kind of bag, since it’s very practical . A lot of people are collecting this reusable bag for daily use so that they will not feel too nervous when the day really comes. As to I know, lots of people will not get used to this trend soon since we seem to can’t get around without plastic bags. I was worries sometimes when it comes to buying fish from the food center, you know, the fish is so smelly and dirty, what should I do then.

What Other Countries Have Done to Prevent Plastic Pollution

Elsewhere in the world, such as in South Africa, Ireland, Taiwan and Bangladesh, legislation has already been introduced to cut the use of plastic bags. Last year, San Francisco became the first US city to ban petroleum-based plastic bags in large grocery stores while in Germany retailers must pay a recycling fee if they wish to offer bags. Other supermarket chains, such as Delhaize of Belgium, and a number of competitive retailers in New Zealand have taken it upon themselves to stop distributing plastic bags at the check-out.

This demonstrates the way the government can simply declare an end to a technology for environmental reasons, even a 1950s technology like plastic bags. Whether enforcement will actually end plastic bags is not something I care to guess about.

Cannot Imaging Life Without It? Well, not that Horrible at all!

It's a fact of life in China that just about anything comes in a little plastic bag. That's all about to change: In what all reports are calling a surprise move, the central government has banned ultra-thin plastic bags and will require regular bags to be sold with a clearly marked price starting June 1.

The bags subject to the ban are even thinner than what I was used to--less than 0.025mm thick. I first encountered them when buying j?anb?ng, known as Chinese crepes or Chinese pancakes, at a university convenience store. Once the 25-cent treat was ready to eat, the cook slipped it in a tiny sack, and I walked off to savor my junk food. These bags started accumulating in my trash bin. Fried noodles came in them, as did roasted nuts, baked goods, and fruit, among other things. I can only imagine that these ultra-thin bags deteriorate faster than the stronger ones.

There's even some hope that the pay-for-bags structure may make the sort of biodegradable bags used at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 appealing to more people. At the very least, one hopes the 2008 Olympics in Beijing will deal with waste gracefully.

In China, it is becoming a fashion in many places for people to carry cotton bags or bamboo baskets when purchasing goods. There are even cool-designed cotton bags for fashionable young people. In markets, many people are now accustomed to saying, "I don't need plastic bags."