It's fair to say that the campaign to reduce single-use plastic bag at major retailers and convenience stores since the beginning of the year has not been entirely smooth. While many understand the environmental concerns driving the campaign, there are still a great deal of people who can't look past the minor inconvenience of doing without plastic bags.
Many of those who have felt aggrieved by the ban were quick to take to social media to air their complaints. On Jan 1, a man posted a photo of a shopping basket in his car on Facebook, claiming he'd taken it from a convenience store because they weren't giving out plastic bags. (He says he later returned the basket.) He went on to suggest that environmental protection should be secondary to individual convenience. Needless to say, this staggering ignorance and selfishness attracted a wave of criticism. But it soon became apparent that he was far from the only one with this view.
More and more reports came in of people stealing shopping baskets. A poster on Twitter saw fewer than 20 baskets at a Tops Supermarket on one occasion and reasoned that people were simply walking out with them. The problem got so bad that some retailers had to secure their baskets with security tags.
Meanwhile, it seems that other shoppers were deciding to take their custom elsewhere, to general stores that were still giving out plastic bags. The Daily News reported on Jan 9 that these shops were experiencing as much as a 10% in customers, which they believed may be entirely down to the plastic bags. If that is the case, it is a depressing thought. We should of course be supporting local general stores, but free plastic bags shouldn't be the main reason to shop there.
Surfing social media and various comments, I was shocked at the amount of ignorance there is over the extent of the environmental damage caused by plastic waste. The current campaign against single-use plastics has been fuelled in no small part by several high-profile cases of marine animals dying as a result of the plastic waste they had consumed. Yet it seems that a significant number of people believe that the whales, dugongs and turtles died because some careless people had thrown plastic bags directly into oceans. They didn't understand how plastic waste, properly disposed of in dustbins, could still make its way into the rivers and oceans due to our poor waste management.
According to the Pollution Control Department, in 2019, the average Bangkokian used eight plastic bags per day. Greenpeace reported that Thailand uses around 5,300 tonnes of plastic bags per day -- roughly 2 million tonnes per year -- and that as much as 50% of plastic waste isn't subject to proper waste disposal. Most of it is either buried or burnt, releasing hazardous toxins into the air, soil and water.
Some have suggested that we switch to biodegradable plastics instead of using tote bags, but Greenpeace warns that they may too be unsafe. There are concerns that biodegradable plastics eventually break down into microplastics, which can enter the food chain. In 2018, the Environment Agency Austria conducted a study whereby it examined the stool samples of participants from all over the world, including Austria, Italy, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, Japan, Russia and the UK. All had healthy, regular diets. All were found to have microplastics in their stools.
There has as yet been no study into the long-term effects of microplastics in humans. However, in September 2019, in an interview with BBC Thailand, Suchana Chavanich, an associate professor at the Department of Marine Science in Chulalongkorn University, suggested that they could lead to allergies, problems with blood circulation and even stomach cancer. The BBC was quick to stress that there is no hard evidence to support this yet, but we cannot dismiss microplastics as harmless.
Another complaint resulting from the plastic bag ban was that people were no longer getting free bags to use for rubbish disposal. I see this as a perfect opportunity to start sorting our waste properly. We throw out an enormous amount of stuff that could be recycled or otherwise reused. Let's start following the rest of the world and separate our waste into general, organic and recyclable. Instead of putting everything into plastic bags, we should get different types of bins. Yes, it may be a slight inconvenience to begin with, but long-term it will make waste management easier and more efficient.
Stealing baskets from supermarkets is theft. The people who do this are selfish. But it's clear that too many people just don't understand the damage that plastic does. They need to be educated.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment plans to introduce further, stricter regulations for plastic waste management in 2021. For this to be successful, people need to have a better understanding of the problem. I have seen first-hand, on various comments sections, that when people are informed about waste management and microplastics, they have been receptive and shown a willingness to change their attitudes. This is encouraging.
Sadly, there are also worrying signs that things could go the other way. Some believe that if sales at convenience stores drop, they will start giving out plastic bags again. Indeed, it appears that many convenience stores are already quietly dropping the ban and giving out free bags to please customers.
This shouldn't be allowed to happen. If we are unwilling to accept some minor inconveniences for the benefit of our environmental heritage, the consequences down the line will be severe. And we will all suffer.
Suwitcha Chaiyong is a feature writer for the Life section of the Bangkok Post.