Summary of BBC article
In “Plastic bag charge to double to 10p in all shops in England” by BBC news (2021), it is reported that the price of plastic bags will be increased from 5p to 10 p for all businesses in the UK beginning on 21 May 2021. The rules which have to pay 5p to buy plastic bags was introduced in England in 2015, and this rule has proven very successful, which has reduced the number of plastic bags by around 95%. For this reason, the government wants to reduce the use of single-use carrier bags more in small and medium-sized businesses, so they will raise the prices of them. The main reason why the government extends the charge is protecting our natural environment and oceans. Therefore, customers will be asked to bring their own bags or buy a reusable bag made from 100% recyclable material.
Response to BBC article
After I read the article “ Plastic bag charges double to 10p in
all shops in England”, I thought that this article is very interesting
for me because I will study in the UK for the next year.
Nowadays, many countries want to reduce the number of plastic bags because they want to protect the natural environment like the UK. The method which the government of the UK chose to follow is getting good results because the customer has to buy plastic bags for around 5p per bag. They want to reduce the number of single-use plastics more so, they will increase the prices of it, and they expect that it will reduce around 70% -80% in the future. I think that this method can be a role model for many countries because in the present the number of single-use plastics is increasing, which can damage the natural environment and resources. Plastic bags take a very long time to decompose, so the amount of trash in the world increases. And some trash was thrown into the river or the ocean, which can affect natural animals and it can affect humans in the future.
In Thailand, the method which reduced the number of plastic bags was launched two years ago and the results of it tend to be good. People try to use their own bag to collect their products from shops. However, somebody who forgot to bring their own bag for shopping can buy plastic bags for around 1 baht or recycle bags to collect their products. For all of this, I think that it is a good idea to reduce the use of plastic bags to protect the environment and I think that people will recognize the natural problem and will decrease the use of single-use plastic which can damage the environment in the future.
Question for readers
Do you think it is a good method for reducing the use of plastic bags?
I remember that when Tops stopped giving me multiple plastic bags for my grocery shopping in January last year, it was very annoying. I constantly found myself without a bag, which I had forgotten to take with me to carry my asparagus, pasta and mangoes home in, so I had to buy another reusable bag or two. I ended up with a larger collection of reusable bags than I would like.
ReplyDeleteBut then I changed some habits and the problem was solved. I now keep bags in the pockets of the shorts I normally wear, so they are there when I need them. And I keep a couple of reusable shopping bags in the bag I carry my notebook in, so that if I buy something walking home from work, I also have reusable bags handy.
But my groceries still come well swathed in plastic! And when I buy durian, the shop assistants want to put that in an extra plastic bag.
I agreed with Jam. I think it’s a good idea to reduce the use of plastic bags. Before this, people like to buy many things and they didn’t bring their own bags to buy something, but when this idea happened, many people don’t want to pay more for a bag, so they bring their own bag. It makes people use the bag that they have but never used before. Furthermore, this idea can help with environmental problems. As we know, plastic pollution is poisoning our oceans and land. Some animals eat plastic because they think it’s their food and make them die. It’s sad to hear that. The thing that we should do is reduce the use of plastic by many ways such as using a plate instead of a foam box or using your own bottle instead of a plastic glass. Lastly, I think reusing plastic bags is another good idea too.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that increasing the price of plastic bags can reduce the amount of plastic waste. High price of plastic bags can discourage people from using it. In addition to that, it would be better if eco-friendly containers and plastic bags are cheaper than the current prices, because that can encourage people to use eco-friendly containers. Personally, I know that I should stop using plastic bags in order to reduce plastic waste that causes pollution in the environment. However, the high price of degradable plastic bags and containers is very high and that make me don't want to buy them. In the end, I have to use plastic bags.
ReplyDelete