Four complaints about giving up plastic bags that you can definitely get over
Monday, 27 November 2017
OPINION: In October 2015, the UK introduced a charge of 5p (about 10c) on all plastic bags for any retailer that employs 250 or more full-time members.
New Zealand is following suit, sort of. Both New World and Countdown are aiming to be single-use plastic bag free by 2019. The government is yet to take action on bags.
As someone who lived in the UK during this plastic-free transition and came out of the other side reasonably sane (subjectively speaking), I've complied a list of gripes we all had to go through and why the levy is actually pretty awesome.
IT WON'T WORK
Yes it bloody well will. In England, usage plummeted by a whopping 85 per cent by July 2016. Only 500 million bags were given out in the first six months. The previous year it was 7 billion.
That's almost an entire nation with a population of 53 million (which is roughly 10 times more than NZ, give or take), adapting to change in less than a year.
It's worked so well that UK supermarket Tesco is now scrapping the sale of plastic bags altogether. That's fantastic news, because our plastic consumption has an absolutely devastating impact on the earth.
Our oceans are being swamped with eight million tons of the stuff annually. We're murdering sea turtles, and that kind of makes us massive jerks.
I WON'T REMEMBER MY BAG!
Being an adult is tough. It basically requires answering emails 80 per cent of the time, occasionally going for dinner with people you don't even like and doing other small niggly things, like caring for the environment so your grandchildren don't inherit a scorched ball of barren dirt.
Adding 'remember reusable shopping bags' to your list of responsibilities really isn't a big ask when the alternative is a hellish Blade Runner-esque dystopia, because we were too selfish to stop wrecking the planet.
A post shared by Mountain Squirrel Co. (@mountainsquirrelco) on Jul 23, 2017 at 8:01am PDT
Reusable bags are great because you get to accessorise. Jump on the excuse to get some totes you're going to really freaking enjoy using.
Guys, here's the chance you've all been waiting for to sport that man-purse like super-woke celebrity Terry Crews.
There are literally thousands of designs out there, from helpful advice on how to slay a zombie to witty cat puns. If you can get a kiwi shooting lasers out of its eyes as a t-shirt, there's a good chance you can get it on a bag too.
Also, I guarantee you, after begrudgingly handing over your hard-earned cents, like, 17 times - you will remember.
BUT I USE THEM AS BIN LINERS OR AS A RAIN COVER
Yeah, these ones are kind of sucky. As the cost of living grows increasingly more expensive, you don't want to fork out for something that you've been getting for free for, like, forever.
But things need to change.
Also, you know what else is great? Space under the sink and using something that doesn't make you look stupid in the rain.
SUPERMARKETS ARE CASHING IN
Not necessarily. Until February, New World will give out 2 million reusable bags.
However, if you're the cynical type (of which we are many) that thinks supermarkets are grabbing the opportunity save money on once free bags while simultaneously making a tidy profit under the guise of corporate social-environmental responsibility - I have good news.
That's even more reason to remember your bags so you can squarely stick it to the man.