Do you think our local government should follow Los Angeles' banning of plastic bagging in store ?

biodegradable plastics are still plastic, and when submerged in water or damp locations, it won't degrade in short period of time. Replacing plastic bags with paper bags is like taking milk away from a baby and replacing with meat.Where would we acquire all those raw materials for making paper but the forest. We would need more trees to cut down and lands that should be instead cultivated for food crops would be replaced by trees for making paper. And the domino effect, this wood pulps would undergo several processes before being available for utilization and consider all the energy and pollution it would cause.Recyclable papers is out of practicality, for they are not durable enough to be made into heavy duty bags.And after being used as bags, they would be dumped as well. Yes, it is biodegradable, but consider the toxics, chemical leaks it would cause when they are dumped indiscriminately, poisoning our ground water, streams and other bodies of water unlike plastics that extract no or lesser toxins.

It would be best that plastics be maintained but they should be thick enough to encourage shoppers/users to re-use this as they would cost more and scrap values would also encourage scavengers to gather this as they command high value.

If plastic is a pollutant, would we ban the use of cement too because they are not biodegradable?It's all in the proper disposal.

add:

it there is one consumer item that should be banned, it should be the styrofoam "expanded polysterere foam", the chemical use to expand it destroys our ozone layer, the material "benzene" is carcinogenic, it is so cheap, scanvengers don't take it to recycling areas piling up dumpsites, the granules when scattered in sea are eaten by inhabitants there which are the leading causes of their death.

So why ban plastics? Are we nuts?

Consumers should do their part by being proactive. Bring your own bag (like those cotton ones)...place it in your car so you don't forget. ALSO, if the item you're buying is small (like lipstick or ballpen) just tell the salesperson not to bag it! Cos you know salespeople in the Phils usually do not ask if u need a plastic bag or not, they just put even a piece of eraser in a plastic bag just cos "that's what they're told to do"...like robots.

MANAGERS and the bug guys like owners of Gaisano malls should seriously train their employees to ASK first before bagging. How hard is that to do! In terms of evnironmental efforts, Phils is so backwards to be honest!

SM Department stores nationwide are using Biodegradable plastic bags. Go SM!

I think this is an idea that's been too long in coming in a lot of places. I definitely agree that bringing your own bags is the best way to reduce pollution from plastic bags.

Yes! It's crazy how many plastic bags are used unnecessarily in the Philippines. Then they linger for years afterward as unsightly trash, clogging waterways and polluting the beautiful beaches. I would love it if the Philippine local governments passed this ban; unfortunately I don't think it would ever happen.

Not just libs, as you call them, worry about the environment. As old industries die down or are downsized, new opportunies and industries appear. Plastic bags generate more trash, trash that can't be recycled and they do not biodegrade. Think of this trend as a positive opportunity to change and as a chance for the appearance of new producta that are better for the environment and better for everybody.

yes i deserve to use paperbag instead of plasticbag. we all know that the plastic is not biodegradable. since we are using paper bags and other biodegradable material in past 40 years. i think we can. ban the plastic bag

Why ban if, you could use biodegradable plastic bags?

SM Supermarket and department store is already using those kind of plastic bags.

Its just another way for them to sell you something else and get more money from you. Don't be stupid and believe all that global warming crap its all just part of marketing strategy. If you want to follow the example of some other city Los Angeles is the LAST place you should want to emulate. Why don't you look at some clean and organized cities how they do things. LA??? Come on give me a break. That place is crap. Besides all that, when I get groceries in Philippines they pack it in a box anyway.

That should be done here in the Philippines too!

Filipinos, let's bring out our 'bayong' in shopping!