Bring Your Own Bag, Or Buy Your Own Bag.

Bring Your Own Bag, Or Buy Your Own Bag.

100,000 plastic bags saved on Bring Your Own Bag Day
By Julia Ng, Channel NewsAsia Posted: 19 April 2007 2028 hrs

SINGAPORE: Singapore's first Bring Your Own Bag Day on Wednesday managed to save an estimated 100,000 plastic bags.

According to leading supermarket chains NTUC Fairprice and Cold Storage, they cut the number of plastic bags by up to 60 per cent.

They also sold about 20,000 reusable bags.

At one Cold Storage outlet, most shoppers say they do not mind if they have to donate 10 cents to environmental projects for every plastic bag they take.

"If they donate it, it's up to them, right? But I think I'll bring my own bag. It makes more sense," said one lady shopper.

"I have no objection because it's contributing to the eco friendly system. I think it's good! For us businessman, for shopping we don't carry a bag! But for housewives, yes, if they have time to bring their own bag then it would be a good idea," said another shopper.

But not everyone agrees.

"In the first place it's an inconvenience to me. On an everyday basis, some of us [are] in a rush, then it'll add up to a big amount. But I guess as a habit it's always good to recycle," says one customer.

Some viewers told Channel NewsAsia that paying "10 cents per bag is way too expensive".

One viewer said she saw "two women who went shopping at a mart without shopping bags and brought the (NTUC) baskets home".

Others argued that for families who shop in bulk, it is "not feasible to bring over 20 reusable bags just for that one outing."

There were also suggestions for supermarkets to waive the charges for plastic bags if you spend $50 or more.

So it looks like the habit of bringing your own shopping bag to cut down on the use of plastic bags will take some time to cultivate.

But with so many reusable bags available in all shapes and sizes, sometimes all it takes is a little planning in your shopping schedule and you too can do your bit for the environment.

One shopper says she has some 10 reusable bags, and keeps one in her car at all times.

"You know you're going shopping. You know you're going to need bags, so why don't you just use [or] bring them!"


Some retailers, like furniture store IKEA, plan to charge shoppers five to 10 cents for its plastic bags from this Sunday.

Therefore paying for the convenience may just be the start of a new trend in Singapore.

The initiation by the National Environment Agency (NEA) is a motivating and inspirational tactic to rouse the community’s innate conservationism, rather than the customary placid imploration.

We have all been annoyed by pesky environmentalists who embark on a futile attempt to convince us that plastics bags are harmful to our world and literally killing Mother Nature. Yet, the blinding advantages of plastic bags are so tempting we keep going back to them, addicted to annihilating our only planet. Do we listen? No. We think it can’t be that bad. Besides, it is so convenient, so light, so waterproof and elastic, and so abundant such that its storage ability is complementary to what we can afford.

Bring Your Own Bag Day is definitely one of the idealistic and forceful solutions to counter the popular demand head on, justifying the hoo-hah generated from the public and media. On this day, people use reusable bags, or pay for every plastic bag utilized.

Fines do make Singapore a fine city. Money-minded and obdurate Singaporeans prefer the wicker to the inducement; they refuse to display any consideration unless forced to.

I cannot deny that this is an efficient way of setting the ball rolling. However, I feel the compelling pressure by NEA is detrimental as it restricts our freedom and thus might induce negative feelings about concerns of the environment. I am worried it might generate an impression that Singaporeans are simply going-with-the-flow and financially-driven. On the other hand, it is important that we acclimatize to this healthy cultivation. Inconveniences are inevitable, but it is ultimately for a good cause.

Yet, I think the effort remains insufficient. Ambitious as I may be, I feel that the campaign should last for at least a month instead of a measly twenty-four hours, but failure looms for we can already perceive the intolerance for just a Wednesday. Moreover, this campaign can reach out to other organizations other than supermarkets.

There was a great commotion due to ignorance of the issue as customers are welcomed by shock when they have to pay for their consumption of plastic carriers. Thus, more publicity is required in this aspect.

Nevertheless, we must still put ourselves into the patrons’ shoes. It is demanding to expect them to cope with the hassle of lugging reusable bags for their shopping, or suffer the consequence of an abyss in one’s purse. There is definitely much more to do to placate the disgruntled.

A suggestion, given the multitudinous advantageous properties of plastics, is to utilize used plastic bags instead of buying new reusable carriers so as to reduce the consumers’ burden and demolish the reputation that retailers are doing it for a profit, although given thought, they actually suffer a loss of patrons during BYOBD.

Judging from the response, it would still take some time for response to get from lukewarm to searing. Till then, maybe we would be able to waive the charges for plastic bags.

The step is small but it's in the correct direction.

(500 words)