Plastic bag ban seems to work

banned
by Getty Images via DaylifeMarc van der Chijs was not the only skeptic, when a ban on plastic bags for China was announced. I really did not believe that for a relative small issue, the environmental authorities - typically not the most powerful ones - would be able to get it their way on June 1, the official start of the ban.
On top of that, China has to face to many more important issues: the winter disaster, the earthquake in Sichuan, the Beijing Olympics.
But we were wrong. By offering bags for money, in stead of a blanket ban, the system might have triggered off basic sentiments. Supermarkets do not mind to ask for money, since they have a hard time in getting their margins anyway from the sales (and mostly make money from the manufacturers who lease shelves). And customers would of course be eager to avoid the extra charge by taking their own bags. In that way both parties think they have something to win.
Marc van der Chijs reports from Shanghai:

At Mister Donut you get a paper box or paper bag for your donuts, and if you want a plastic bag you have to purchase it. And even at IKEA you don't get the ubiquitous yellow bags anymore, but you need to buy a big blue bag (not sure if that one's environmental-friendly, and because of it's awkward shape it's hard to re-use). Paul's bakeries in Shanghai now charge RMB 1 for a plastic bag, but donate the money to charity. The only free bags I still get are at the DVD shop. I guess those shops are illegal anyway, so they might as well break another law.