Wednesday is "Bring Your Own Bag Day" - BYOBD yet another acroymn in a long list of other acroynms that we have to constantly remember. In an effort to reduce wastage of plastic bags and promote resource conservation shoppers are encourage to bring their own shopping bags. Whether the campaign is motivated by environmentally altruistic policies or prompted by the realisation that Singapore's last land fills in Pulau Semakau is fast being used up, 'BYOBD' is yet another effort by the government to go green. A campaign was launched on 11 February 2006 and took a step forward on 18 April 2007 with the launch of the monthly Bring Your Own Bag Day (BYOBD) every first Wednesday of the month. Shoppers are encouraged to bring their own shopping bags. Otherwise, if you are a plastic bag addict or has fetish for plastic bags, you can purchase reusable bags available at the participating supermarkets or voluntarily donate 10 cents for each plastic bag taken at the checkout counters. Shoppers are also encouraged to decline plastic bags when purchasing only a few small items.
Singapore is not the first to introduce such a campaign. Hong Kong implemented its first No Plastic Bag Day (NPBD) in April 2006 and claimed it as a success, with a reported 62% of shoppers bringing their own bags and a corresponding reduction of 80% of checkout bags issued. It now has a monthly NPBD since June 2006, with almost double the number of participating retailers and participating outlets, compared to the start of the campaign.
Even though plastic bags do not pose a threat to the environment in Singapore, it is still wasteful to use plastic bags excessively with Singaporeans consuming 2.5 billion plastic bags a year, which is equivalent to 625 bags per person annually. With such a figure, Singapore must be a nation of plastic bag junkies. The campaign increased awareness among shoppers on the need to reduce wastage of plastic bags. However, the proportion of shoppers using reusable bags is still in the minority with only 2% of shoppers bring their own bags. Apart from Singapore and Hong Kong, many countries had implemented their own 'BYOBD' such as UK and Canada and China being one of the few new entrants to the global efforts.
A National Environment Agency study revealed that Singaporeans use about 2.5 billion plastic bags each year which is equivalent to 19 million kilogrammes of waste in just plastic bags alone. As plastic bags could not be recycled, they are being incinerated thus producing some 2,900 kg of carbon dioxide the same gas that is responsible for global warming. If we a charge 5 cents tax for each bag that we used, the Government would add an additional $125 million a year in the national coffers. With such an amount, maybe we can consider stopping the GST increase and halting the introduction of more ERP gentries and instead just capitalize on our plastic addiction.
However how has the campaign sink well with Singaporeans? An article in the New Paper recently reported of how a female patron of a supermarket dumped all her groceries and walked out of the stall fuming when she was told that she had to pay for the plastic bags that are being used. Supermarkets cashiers shared of how they sometimes experienced customer displeasure whenever it is 'BOYBD'. Some patrons complained that the campaign has caused much inconvenience to them as they are not able to remember the day due to their busy schedules. In an effort to make the campaign more successful, the 'BOYBD' which was originally slated once a month has been extended to every Wednesday. Several months and many plastics bags later, how successful has the campaign be?
Will this campaign end up short of its intended desire like our own Courtesy Campaign? Truth be known, old habits die hard and it will be difficult to change the mindset of Singaporeans who are so used to be carrying back loads of platic bags after their daily groceries shopping. What makes the campaign less effective is the fact that it only happens once every week. Singaporeans being Singaporeans couldn't possibly remember the significance of Wendnesday being 'BYOBD' till we are at the doorstep of the shop, hacked I dont even remember what I am supposed to be doing tomorrow?
Whether the intent was to cut down on the number of plastic bags used by us, we have began to feel the crunch in the availability of plastic bags at home. The same plastic bags there were used by us on a regular basis to bag our waste before throwing them down the chute. The unintended consequences to this campaign that the government may not have realised that it goes again the earlier campaign of encouraging us to bag our waste.
As we complain of how life is getting more complicated, it will be good for us to ponder ourselves whether caring for the environment is a shared responsibility. Everyone contributes to pollution through sewage, waste, fuel consumption and other activities, so everyone must participate in cleaning it up. Some in the community have argued we should pursue zero waste generation, but that is an unrealistic goal that even the most environmentally advanced countries cannot achieve. Instead, we need to invest in solutions that will minimise the amount of waste requiring disposal in landfills and increase landfill space, namely: increase waste recovery and recycling, develop integrated waste management facilities, extend the life of existing landfills and build new landfills.
Whetever the end result would be, we should play our small part for the environment.
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