Italy to ban plastic bags

[Adios]

Italy is a nation known as much for its food as for the ubiquitous plastic bag, given out freely with every purchase around the country and often left to litter streets or landfills. A new ban coming into effect January 1, however, may change that.

Mexico City last year banned shops from giving out plastic bags that are not bio-degradable. France also imposed a similar law.

China has adopted a strict limit on them, reducing litter and eliminating the use of 40 billion bags, the World Watch Institute said, citing government estimates. Although compliance has been spotty, violation of the law carries a possible fine of 10,000 yuan ($1,463), World Watch said.

In Tanzania, selling the bags carries a maximum six-month jail sentence and a fine of 1.5 million shilling ($1,137).

Mumbai, India, outlawed the bags in 2000 and cities in Australia, South Africa and Taiwan have imposed bans or surcharges. Ireland reported cutting use of the bags by 90 percent after imposing a fee on each one.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/31/italy.plastic.bags/index.html?hpt=Sbin


I had no idea.......

[The Johnny]

We still have bags in Mexico.

Its one of those stupid unenforced laws.

[BabylonHoruv]

In Tanzania, selling the bags carries a maximum six-month jail sentence and a fine of 1.5 million shilling ($1,137).

The rest of it all makes sense as environmental initiatives of one sort or another.  This just stuck out as rather odd and amusing.  Makes the selling of plastic bags sound like selling drugs.

[The Johnny]

Althought for a week or two, every supermarket was panicking and looking at paper bags as an alternative.

Now that everything is as it always was, the paper bag factories arent content at all.

[Adios]

The entire concept just surprised me I guess. I am still not sure how I feel about it. Why not styrofoam as well?

[The Johnny]

Just a retarded "green" fad, like banning smoking in bars, ffs.

[BabylonHoruv]

The entire concept just surprised me I guess. I am still not sure how I feel about it. Why not styrofoam as well?

I wouldn't be surprised if styrofoam gets it pretty soon.  plastic bags are easier to replace than styrofoam (paper bags) and have also been the darling of a lot of the cute environmental types.  apparently when floating in the water they look just like jellyfish and then sea turtles try to eat them and die, that sort of thing.

I don't know if they banned plastic sixpack rings or if they just sort of vanished, but I know those were another thing that was known for killing cute marine animals that I haven't seen in any stores in quite a while.

[Adios]

Well they are not good environmentally speaking. Neither of them are biodegradable and bot probably contribute to the 'floating plastic islands' in the ocean.

In many southern states they have mastered the art of tree harvesting and replanting for paper and cardboard. In fact it's a big business.

[Fujikoma]

I never throw plastic bags away by themselves, I recycle them once, by using them as trash bags. You can't do that with paper bags as well as you can with plastic, try throwing away something wet or icky... Ugh.

Course, that probably reveals me as a horrible person, but, whatever, killing=wrong too, and I'm not about to give up my greasy double bacon cheeseburgers.

[Adios]

Yeah, same here, but that still isn't eliminating them from landfills and from blowing down my street everywhere. There are just too many people on the earth.

[Adios]

He considerado mudarse a México. Joh'nyx ¿tiene usted alguna idea sobre esto?

[Fujikoma]

Landfills are an ugly complicated mess that I know next to nothing about, and what little I understand is enough to make me sick, of course, with the way things are set up, what can you do?

Doesn't Massachusets or some such place have an island made completely of trash, where they need to poke pipes into it for it to off-gas, and burn the gas?... YUCK... And underground fires, issuing forth toxic smoke in other landfills, it's just a big freaking problem.

I wish I knew who or what to blame for things getting this way. Consumer culture is one thing that comes to mind, but when I start thinking about that, I start wondering where we'd be without it, and I can't help but think that would be much worse. Still, the payment for all this madness is going to come due sometime, and it's not going to be pretty.

The bags blowing down the street are the result of trashy people who can't bother themselves to keep track of their responsibility for their own garbage... Like they couldn't think of another use for that plastic bag once it served its purpose.

I know, I should write a children's book about a lonely plastic bag, cast away into a cold, cruel world, who finally finds a cozy home as a drunk bum's thunderbird coozy... That'll condition the children of tomorrow to think more about their trash... Assign it human feelings, and introduce the concept at a young and impressionable age. Sadly, that does nothing now.

[Faust]

Just a retarded "green" fad, like banning smoking in bars, ffs.

Well in ireland it certainly ism't just a fad. All countries that rely on tourism and scenic villages and countryside should have the same we do. It was a HUGE improvement over seeing them sticking out of every hedge and gutter.

[Adios]

Just a retarded "green" fad, like banning smoking in bars, ffs.

Well in ireland it certainly ism't just a fad. All countries that rely on tourism and scenic villages and countryside should have the same we do. It was a HUGE improvement over seeing them sticking out of every hedge and gutter.

Isn't that ugly as hell? Pisses me off.

[The Johnny]

Landfills are an ugly complicated mess that I know next to nothing about, and what little I understand is enough to make me sick, of course, with the way things are set up, what can you do?

Doesn't Massachusets or some such place have an island made completely of trash, where they need to poke pipes into it for it to off-gas, and burn the gas?... YUCK... And underground fires, issuing forth toxic smoke in other landfills, it's just a big freaking problem.

I wish I knew who or what to blame for things getting this way. Consumer culture is one thing that comes to mind, but when I start thinking about that, I start wondering where we'd be without it, and I can't help but think that would be much worse. Still, the payment for all this madness is going to come due sometime, and it's not going to be pretty.

The bags blowing down the street are the result of trashy people who can't bother themselves to keep track of their responsibility for their own garbage... Like they couldn't think of another use for that plastic bag once it served its purpose.

I know, I should write a children's book about a lonely plastic bag, cast away into a cold, cruel world, who finally finds a cozy home as a drunk bum's thunderbird coozy... That'll condition the children of tomorrow to think more about their trash... Assign it human feelings, and introduce the concept at a young and impressionable age. Sadly, that does nothing now.

Its too late Fuji...

Ever since those assholes in American Beauty decided that a plastic bag floating in the wind is "the most beautiful thing in the world" that you could watch it for hours and wank to it and love it and hope that you never never never lose the videotape of it - its too late.