China targets plastic bags

But if the government has its way, the thin plastic bags that blight this country will soon be a thing of the past. Under an ambitious plan announced in advance of the 2008 Summer Olympics, China has announced a ban on the production of the flimsiest of the bags by June 1.

"I think it's a great idea and really support it," retired factory worker Tang Xiulan said as she juggled several plastic bags loaded with pork, dates and herbs at one of Beijing's many "wet markets," which sell goods such as bloody slabs of meat and iced fish. "In fact, people should start right now. I should too, but don't because we're all lazy. The difficult part is changing old habits."

The sheer volume of the bags is explained, at least in part, by shopping habits. Many people shop daily, preferring to buy small quantities either because they lack refrigerators or because it's fresher. And with more bags have come new, more wasteful practices. Consumers who used to juggle a dozen eggs in a wicker basket on the back of their bicycles now make shopkeepers wrap each egg in its own plastic bag so it won't roll around in the trunk of their cars.

"I've wanted this change for a long time," said Yang Wenping, 45, a Beijing shopkeeper for nearly a decade. "Customers ask for bags endlessly, and you can't really refuse. Some even ask without buying anything."

If China can pull off the bag ban with its 1.3 billion people, it will set an example for the rest of the world, improving its negative environmental image and convincing skeptics that it has the political will to tackle vested interests and lazy habits in the interest of going green.

"Plastic shopping bags, due to reasons such as excessive use and inefficient recycling, have caused serious waste of energy and resources and environmental pollution," the State Council said on its website in announcing the ban.

Similar efforts have been tried elsewhere with mixed success, but never on this scale. In March, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban common plastic shopping bags, and Bakersfield, Boston and Phoenix are among the other cities considering bans or fees.

Closer to home, this week Los Angeles County supervisors backed off their threat to ban plastic bags, instead choosing a voluntary program that leaves it to supermarkets and stores to coax customers into opting for reusable bags.