by matt on 01/21/08 (0 of 0 people found this comment informative)

hard to believe... china is ahead of the curve on this one!!

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by Laura on 01/22/08 (1 of 1 people found this comment informative)

I don't think this is a great solution. Clearly people like the convenience of plastic bags and will probably be willing to pay for them, assuming the price isn't totally exorbitant. Sure, they'll probably reuse them a *little* more, but overall it creates hassle and doesn't solve the problem. So nobody wins. Instead, why not keep the convenience of cheap, disposable bags but switch to biodegradable corn-based packaging? Get it here: http://www.trellisearth.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2

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by matt on 01/22/08 (0 of 0 people found this comment informative)

well maybe it's not a complete solution but i think it has its merits.. for starters it makes a bold statement for everyone to contemplate about the nature of using all this temporary plastic and to perhaps consider reducing what they use. and if the average person can be shown that paying $5.00 for reusable bags saves them money within a few months' time, then many people will definitely be convinced to buy reusable bags... biodegradable bags are a good alternative but still lacking in completeness.. u still have to have land and resources to grow the corn. also remember most fertilizer is petroleum based and you have the resources of the whole supply chain so you're still using up petrol to make the products.. i think the ideology being promoted by this step would be one of moving past the notion of convenience...

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by rylan on 01/22/08 (0 of 0 people found this comment informative)

i think this is a great first step. much of our environmental woe comes from the fact that were on not putting a real economic value on much of our environmental degradation. By charging for bags - especially if the price is high enough - Chinese shoppers will be confronted with a more real cost of eco-degradation. On the interview I thought it was interesting that the Chinese citizen said he thought the people would return to using more traditional methods of carrying groceries like wicker and woven / cloth bags. Big up, China on this one.

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by clairity on 01/23/08 (0 of 0 people found this comment informative)

I am thinking it might be easier in China to make the change as the story said most places even in the cities did not offer disposable bags until 10 years ago, and many places in the country still don't. San Francisco is making the switch to corn bags, right? Are they making people pay for them?

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by Laura on 01/24/08 (0 of 0 people found this comment informative)

Seems like the best answer would be to do both: charge shoppers for disposable bags and make sure those bags are biodegradable. And any smart store would probably also do well by stocking more sturdy, reusable bags (e.g. wicker, cloth, etc.) for sale a higher charge.

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