It’s not bags, it’s us

Re: “Anti-plastic bag campaign needs teeth to succeed”, (Opinion, Oct 9).

The argument against plastic bags is similar to the argument against guns in the US. Guns don’t kill people, but having no guns would result in a lot less people being killed. The same goes for plastic bags. It is the way we use and dispose of them that causes the problem, but if we didn’t have any then there would be less of a problem.

If you travel through Europe and generally any developed country you don’t see plastic bags nor any other form of garbage strewn around the streets and countryside. Yes, they do use less plastic bags, but it is the general discipline of the population that ensures all forms of garbage are disposed of properly.

I recall the “Keep Australia beautiful” campaign some 50 years ago. Prior to that we had similar conditions with people discarding garbage anywhere and the highways lined with it. This is part of economic development and evolution and I do hope we will see this happen here eventually.

But the most serious problem is in the oceans. Years ago all forms of shipping just discarded their trash overboard. The main problem now is fishermen. I recall sailing from Singapore to Phuket and in the three days came across several islands of floating trash over a kilometre wide. This will take a lot longer and will be much harder to fix.

I personally have nothing against plastic shopping bags as long as they don’t end up in the environment. The problem I have with biodegradable plastic bags is that in a landfill they degrade to methane and this is the worst form of greenhouse gas.

A normal plastic bag will last many years in a landfill and with the modern trend to mine landfills for energy it does at least give the bag a second life from petroleum to plastic and then to fuel.

So the real problem is getting people to care for the environment.

TONY CITTADINI

Engineering Solutions International Co Ltd