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English Town Bans Plastic Bags
by Thomas L. R. Smith, Ph. D.
January 12, 2008
The town of Modbury, in England, has become the first town in Britain to ban those flimsy plastic bags that your local grocery clerk asks if you want instead of paper. All of the local shopkeepers agreed to the ban. Originally, according to the London Times, the ban was temporary (Elliot & Smith, 2007). The storeowners wanted to know if banning plastic was feasible. After several months of testing, the ban became permanent in May of 2007.
But why ban plastic? Wildlife photographer Rebecca Hosking hatched the plan after seeing albatross chicks die from swallowing discarded plastic shopping bags. When she returned home to England, she went to the Chamber of Commerce of her sea-side home town to see if they would help her clean up the often fatal discarded plastic. The shop owners in the Chamber agreed to help. The merchants quit using plastic bags and encouraged their shoppers to use reusable cotton bags. The Chamber issued bags to the community. For shoppers who did not bring their own reusable bags, the merchants of Modbury made biodegradable cornstarch bags available. Merchants also sold recyclable paper bags to those who did not have reusable bags (Elliot & Smith).
Since Modbury’s successful ban, four other towns in England, Scotland, and Wales have joined Modbury. Several dozen are planning to join the ban. The ban is not just restricted to England. San Francisco joined the ban (Leff, 2007) as did the countries of Kenya , Somalia , and Taiwan . While it doesn’t ban plastic, the Irish Republic puts a 15-cent tax on plastic bags. Closer to home, Representative Maralyn Chase of Shoreline, Washington, has introduced House Bill 2424 in the 2008 Washington State Legislature which requires grocery stores to only provide recyclable or reusable bags.
What can you do? If you are interested in replacing plastic bags with recyclable and reusable bags in your town or neighborhood, the Town of Modbury gives a list of suggestions on their website: http://www.plasticbagfree.com/howto.php
References
Elliot, V., & Smith, L. (2007, April 28). Modbury (pop 1,553) is first to ban plastic bags. The Times [Online].
Leff, L. (2007, March 27). San Francisco leaders OK plastic grocery bag ban. The Washington Post.
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