Media Issue: The on-going plastic bag dilemma.
Victoria is the first state to trial charging for plastic bags, a successful reduction in usage, may mean an environmental tax is introduced.
The environment is choking in our mistakes and until the federal government can come to a decision, Australia’s beautiful landscape will continue to be plagued by plastic bags. As reported by Ten News on August 18, three Victorian towns are currently trialling charging customers ten cents for each plastic bag used in their supermarkets in an effort to decrease the amount of bags entering the environment. Will this make a difference? Consumers are more likely to just pay the few dollars and continue their all too regular use, of the toxic bags. Drastic measures need to be taken and elimination may be the only solution.
The theory is that if charged, consumers will look to other alternatives, such as the purchase of re-useable green bags, change their habits and cease use of plastics. If this trial was to be successful the government may look at introducing an environmental tax on plastic bags. Is this the answer or should they really be considering phasing out, then banning use of plastic bags entirely?
Australians use four billion bags each year, just over half ends up in landfill or recycled, leaving the rest of it to pollute our parks, rivers and oceans. With all this garbage lying around, it is not surprising that thousands of the countries birds and other animals die each year from either ingesting or being caught up in plastic bags. That’s a staggering amount when considered that single use plastic bags are so unnecessary with the multitude of alternatives. On top of green bags supermarkets could offer paper bags or cardboard boxes as a way of transporting their goods. Of course plastic ‘bags’ are not the only thing contaminating our environment. Plastic in general is a major pollutant. As reported by Liam Bartlett on Sixty Minutes, there are four tonnes of...