Do we need that plastic bag? [News]

Do we need that plastic bag? By Grace Chua, The Straits Times, 28 Apr 2012. A few days ago, I found myself in the curious position of having no plastic bags left in the house, and needing to take out the trash. That meant going to the supermarket and buying something that I was going to buy anyway, like a bunch of bananas, in order to get a bag to line my bin with. Earlier this week, the Singapore Environment Council proposed that supermarkets, food outlets and provision shops start charging for plastic bags. A flurry of letters to the press ensued, some arguing this would be too much of a burden, others calling it too little. Like many others, I have a love-hate relationship with plastic bags. Making and distributing them takes fossil fuels, and they do not break down in landfills or the ocean. A plastic bag, fluttering vacantly in the wind, is an easily demonised symbol for fossil fuel and resource consumption. Click here to read the full story.