Public environmental awareness improves a year after government plastic bag ban

by Xinhua writers Wu Qiong, Chaoxiao and Chen Yinan

BEIJING, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Gao Jie has collected a dozen non-woven fabric bags over the past year, since China banned free plastic bags from retailers on June 1, 2008.

Gao said she used to take it for granted when supermarkets offered free plastic bags. She never felt the urge to avoid using plastic bags although she was aware of "white" pollution caused by such bags.

Yet, nearly a year after the government ban, she has developed a new habit of taking a fabric bag with her when going out for shopping.

Gao was among millions, if not billions, of Chinese who had switched from plastic bags to fabric or other reusable bags, after they had to pay for plastic bags at supermarkets, department stores and grocery stores.

As a result, nationwide use and disposal of plastic bags had been reduced, as expected by the government when it enacted the ban.

The use of plastic bags at supermarkets was down by an average 66 percent than before the ban, according to a survey released Wednesday by the China Chain Store and Franchise Association.

That means nearly 40 billion plastic bags were spared in the period, if compared to pre-ban uses, the survey showed.