Do you think that plastic bag bans don’t matter? Well, plastic bags pollute our ocean and our beaches, they kill turtles and dolphins which eat them, and they contribute to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Since 2015, the European Union has required Member States to take measures to reduce their single use plastic bags’ consumption. Waiting for States to get a move on, cities in Europe and worldwide teach them a lesson by banning single use plastic bags. Here, we selected 10 of their best practices for you.
1 Modbury/ The visionary
By sacking plastic bags in 2007, the little town of Modbury was the first in Europe to do so. After a screening of a documentary about plastic pollution in the Pacific filmed by a local camerawoman, all the shopkeepers of the town decided to stop selling or handing out plastic bags.
2 Alonissos / The island of paradise, and plastic bag free as a bonus
Single use plastic bags are not anymore allowed on the Greek island since 2015, thanks to the good will of the mayor and the work of local NGOs. The “Plastic Bag Free Alonissos” project, led by the NGO MedSOS, included the participation of business, tourists and inhabitants, who accepted positively the measure.
3 Espinho / Only vintage matters
The municipal library of Espinho in Portugal brought jute bags to pack bread back into fashion through the project “Grandma’s bread bag” in 2013. Bakeries involved in the project offered discounts to clients coming with their own bread bags.
4 Tiana / A deposit for baskets?
The Spanish municipality, Tiana, understood that reusable packaging and deposit schemes are the future. That’s why in 2011, the municipality gave out baskets to shopkeepers in the framework of its campaign “Where do you go without your basket?”. Clients who forgot their bags could borrow a basket for 5 euros, and be refunded once the basket was returned to the shop.
5 Saint Denis / Who said plastic bags could not be funny?
Saint Denis in France did it! The city recruited a local theatre organisation to create sketches and slams in order to raise awareness of (really) everybody about the ban of single use plastic bags in 2014.
6 Judendorf, Eisbach, Gratkom, Gratwein/ 6 124: a world record of reusable bags collected held by four Austrian cities
You might think “Why?” Well, in order to raise awareness on the negative effects of plastic bags, to promote reusable alternatives and to create a media buzz! (ok ok, at least some articles in local newspapers.)
7 Sofia/Contemporary art means something (yes, really)
The Bulgarian local chapter of Surfrider has organized for several years an exhibition of Tote Bags, designed by local artists with messages denouncing plastic pollution of the ocean.
8 San Francisco/ How a city kicked the ass of the plastic industry
Back in 2005, elected representatives in San Francisco already wanted to act against single use plastic bags, through taxation. In response, the plastic industry financed an opposition campaign and managed to make the Government ban any tax on plastic bags. No problem, the famous Californian city, which targets zero waste by 2025, simply banned single use plastic bags in 2007.
9 Anderlecht/ In Les Abattoirs market, they give everything to ban plastic bags
In this highly visited market of a Belgian municipality, Anderlecht, it is no mean feat to ban progressively single use plastic bags. That’s why a large team is mobilized on the market to talk with shopkeepers and clients and make sure the ban is respected.
10 Saint Gilles/ A plastic bag found a new job
After the single use plastic bags’ ban on the markets of the Belgian city in 2016, the department of the environment recruited Gilles. Gilles is a plastic bag. He found himself suddenly unemployed, as all the other plastic bags did, after only 20 minutes of usage. He was wandering in the streets and was going to end up in the ocean when he found a new job: today, Gilles hands out spare bags for clients who might have forgotten their own bags.
“The wandering bag”, created by Dévin Kupond Graphics, ordered by Saint Gilles Municipality
BONUS. The International Plastic Bag Free Day/ Every year on the 3rd of July, don’t miss it!
The International plastic Bag Free Day is the occasion of celebrating citizens’, NGOs’ and cities’ initiatives in the world against single use plastic bags. In 2016, Surfrider took the opportunity to recall a simple truth: plastic bags suck.
Find all these good practices in detail, and far more, in the Guide of Good Practices on single Use Plastic Bags’ bans by Surfrider Foundation Europe. And take action against single use plastic bags visiting the webpage of the Ban the Bag campaign.
