In just under a month, the two major supermarkets will no longer hand out free plastic bags to carry your groceries.
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I couldn't be happier (and wish the NSW government would get on board with broader bag ban), as I already try to use reusable bags as much as possible and am happy to be penalised until I remember to make them an essential part of heading to the supermarket.
But for some, this is going to be an unwelcome change.
Plastic carry bags have become such a thoughtless convenience, something we barely even think about as we use more and more of them.
Just the other day I was handed my lunch housed in a compostable container inside a plastic bag. Why?!
And at most shops, you have to proactively ask NOT to have a bag, when it should be the other way around.
With this as the status quo, it's clear that the Woolies and Coles bag ban, which will mean you have to pay for thicker plastic or BYO bag, is going to be an inconvenience.
And that's exactly what it should be.
Because unless we stop acting like we have some inalienable right to use once (or even twice, if you're one of those people who claims to need your free grey plastic bag for a bin liner - seriously twice is no better) and then throw away things like bags, water bottles, cutlery, straws and other items, our future is going to be a hell of a lot more than just inconvenient.
Already, our oceans and waterways are full of the stuff, bellies of seabirds and even the fish we eat are swollen tiny pieces of it and plastic consumption is showing no signs of slowing down.
If the worst thing this bag ban does is make you shell out a few cents if you want a plastic bag, then I say suck it up.
Because the best thing it could do is stop you from using the blighters altogether.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
