Posts Tagged ‘cotton bags’

Plastic Bags Banned in Ajman

Saturday, April 17th, 2010
tote bag

The emirate of Ajman, which is the first emirate in the United Arab Emirates, is doing its bit for the environment by imposing a ban on plastic bags within its borders. This is one of the seven emirates, and the first to take such action so far.

Chairman of the Ajman Department of Municipality and Planning, Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, was the man to issue this order, which will be enforced in July 2010. This will start from the beginning of the month, and continue for as long as the law is in place, assuming the ban works well. The order to impose this law was issued in January 2010, on the 18th of the month, which gives the emirate and its citizens almost seven months to prepare for the order to come into place. This means that when the time comes around, it should not be such a shock to the system, as measures should be put in place before then which will see the usage of plastic bags be cut down to minimum possible levels anyway by then. It just means that from July 1st, it will be illegal to use these bags, but this does not condone their use before then, in the months leading up to this final enforcement.

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three bags

The punishment for using a plastic bag after this date will be a monetary fine. The maximum amount set in place currently is Dh50,000, or, 13,612 US dollars, but the value given to individuals may be anything up to this. It will be possible to use certain plastic bags, but these will be recycled ones which have to meet regulations. The regulations include stickers upon the bags, which specify exactly when bags should be recycled and where they came from. All shops within the vicinity of Ajman should take note of this as soon as possible, and contact suppliers who can help provide them with suitable bags to offer shoppers. There is a grace period of six months that has been granted for those with plastic bags in stock to be able to use them up and get rid of any they have left. This law will basically only have bad impact for shops and suppliers, as it is them who are responsible for serving the masses and dictating how people will take their shopping home. As long as they do not hand a shopper a plastic bag, that is not one of the recycled ones, then they are not breaking the law.

fancy tote

The majority of bags will be replaced by fabric counterparts, such as jute, as these are environmentally friendly and will not harm the environment, even if disposed, as plastic bags do. Plastic bags have been seen to be harmful to the environment for many years and often clog up oceans and can be ingested by local wildlife. The use of alternative measures for packaging goods will mean that these areas will vastly improve.

This law will come in in phases, which are to be discussed at the moment, and will mean Ajman is an environmentally forward province.


Author Bio: Be a part of the solution, not the problem – use tote bags to carry your shopping.

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Poland U-turn on Plastic Bag Tax

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010
shopping bag

In December 2009 Poland announced that it would be looking to increase the tax on plastic bags in order to change the views of the consumer to start reusing bags. In January 2010, however, Poland has decided to back out of their promise of raising tax causing outrage within many green and pro-recycling activists. However, the real question to consider is, should we really depend on the government to force us to into changing our habits or should we decide for ourselves if we want to recycle and re-use plastic bags or not?

As you would expect the opinion on this matter is split, especially for those of us in the UK who believe that we are, in effect, in a nanny state.

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grocery shopping bag

On one side of the argument the greener people would say that the government should do its part, even if it is by forcing us to change our ways as it is their fault for creating this community. In a way we have to agree, as just like smoking, the government first said that it was okay, then they did a U-turn and then started to block the usage by age, amount even by taxing tobacco in order to forcibly stop those of us who are money conscious. If we were to do this with plastic bags then the next logical step to tale would be that of which Poland first promised in that we would increase the amount a plastic bag cost to an amount such as 10+p. By rising the prices to such an amount people will start to think twice about buying them and will be more inclined to take the small price jump to get reusable bags that are more durable (such as tote bags).

rainbow shopping bags

On the other side of the argument you can argue, as did the smokers at the time, that although it was first introduced by the government it is still their choice. The problem with their argument is that they were already addicted to the product and as such what they had to say was purely influenced by their need for the nicotine within the cigarettes. When we compare this to the use of plastic bags we are, in a way, addicted to the usage of plastic bags, we take them for granted, throw them away without thought and buy them again in the same way. We have done it for so long, so many times and watched so many other people do it that not only have we learnt the behaviour but we have also become addicted to it as a process of shopping.

When you ask a person what things they think of when they recall a shopping trip people will usually say the bag that their items come in last, if at all. What this shows is that we do not truly case about the packaging our good come in, but the thought of change is what makes us want to rebel. Adaptability to environment may have made us the dominant species, but our refusal to change ourselves socially will be the death of the environment.


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Make a difference to the number of plastic bags going to waste, use reusable bags over plastic bags. There are many styles and varieties and sizes of tote bags available at Bag It Don’t Bin It.


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