India way ahead of US on plastic bag issue

But India has to be. Seems plastic's insidious nature has not been so "hidden" to those in India.
Seems like India already realizes what we ignore still. Read this recent report:

"India Moves Away from Plastic Bags - 2: Rajasthan

Source: www.businessgreen.com

INDIA, July 28, 2010: India’s largest state has become the latest to announce a complete state-wide ban on the use of plastic bags this week. From the beginning of August the manufacture, storage, import, sale and transport of plastic carry-bags will be illegal in Rajasthan. No shopkeeper, retailer, trader, hawker or vendor will be allowed to supply goods to consumers in bags.

In Mumbai in 2005 India experienced massive monsoon flooding partially as a result of drains blocked by plastic bags, resulting in over 1000 deaths. Similar flooding happened in 1988 and 1998 in Bangladesh, which led to the banning of plastic bags in 2002.

Cows - sacred in India - frequently asphyxiate after trying to eat the bags."


Last year, in response to my recognition of the host of enduring problems caused by our conflagrate plastic use, I decided to consider the plastic content of every purchase that I make from now on. Try this. Start by remembering that, if you are around my parents age, plastics was a new material had a limited presence in our daily tools. Today, however, just try to buy something without plastic in it or around it. Makes you ask yourself what would chain discount stores be stocking were it not for plastic. Just try buying something in Walmart without plastic in the transaction.