Plastic Bag Fiasco.

A large supermarket chain here in NZ decided to impose a 5c charge on plastic shopping bags. The charge lasted only 4 weeks in the Wellington area before it was down-graded to a "voluntary" charge due to customer complaints. Hmmph!!

Pathetic!!!! Cheap-arsed, narrow-minded, short-sighted, environment-buggering, complaining idiots!. Such a small, simple, tiny change and yet event this is too much to for some neanderthals apparently. Grrrrr. What makes it even more annoying is that the 5c charge actually works extremely well. Over the last 5 years there has been a 22% reduction in plastic bag use here in NZ. Compare this with the dramatic drop caused by the 5c charge".

"In the short time the compulsory scheme had been in place, participating supermarkets had reduced bag use by 50 per cent, or 40 million bags" Foodstuffs Wellington managing director Tony McNeil.

Reported in the New Zealand Herald.

Reducing plastic shopping bags is such a tiny change that it barely rates a mention in the environmental debate. But you would think that it might be an introductory area in which change was not that difficult to effect and perhaps might get people thinking more about the damage we are causing to our environment and the looming issue of climate change. But no, apparently even this is too much to ask.