Going Green.

After a year of active recycling, I found it truly unacceptable that on one hand many Australians are talking about going green, yet they offend me by wasting so much plastic bags during grocery shopping. I found it so hypocritical, where the notion is greater than action. Yes, I find those small transparent plastic bags truly offensive and an utter waste.

You see, in Harris Farm supermarket, they station these rolls of plastic bags for people to put their fruits in. However I fail to see the need for such a practice and it totally defy the idea of going Green. Why do you need a small plastic bag to put those apples and oranges, when you can just put them in the trolley directly? The only reason i can think of is that it is "convenient" to the shopper and that they are just pure lazy. Rather than having to bend over the trolley a few times to pick up the fruits, they would rather just do it once to grab the multiple plastic bags. Imagine a person using 5 plastic bags alone. In a day, at least 200 people go through one harris Supermarket, and in a month, imagine how much plastic waste is being generated! And I am only talking about one supermarket, not including Woolies, Coles and many others. I just wish they would get rid of those small perforated plastic bags.

Apart from cherries and grapes where they will fall apart or go through the trolley holes, I have constantly refuse to use those plastic bags. Even with carrots and mushrooms, my option was always to use the paper bag because I can recycle those several times and in the paper recyle bin. Mor eever, using paper bag to store the perishables and veges actually keep them fresher than using a plastic bag as it traps the condensed waterdroplets within the bag, increasing the rate of decompsition of the produce even in the fridge. I missed those old days where stall owners used to wrapped those veges with newspaper. I think our ancestors were greener people than we are.

I read the other day that Singaporeans were complaining about the new campaign of "no plastic bag" on a wednesday (or was it tuesday). Is it really that difficult to change our practice? I wish people who just stop whining and bitching and do their bit. I am not sure how the Singapore supermarket carried out its recent campaign, as in like in HK and Sydney, instead of plastic bags, the cashier had cloth grocery bags on sale to assist shoppers with the switch. If HK can do it so well, how is it so hard for Singaporeans to embrace this cultural change? I think the supermarket should just go all out and maintain its stand so that people will gradually get the hang of it and stop resisting to it thinking it is only a momentarily "fad'.

It's amazing how much one can recycle. On average, I threw out 2 boxes of papers aweek and a box of plastics from shampoo bottles to milk bottles fornightly. I like to think i had done my part and it is always so satisfying as I empty into the recyle bin. perhaps it is my wishful thinking, but I do wish everyone would truly "Act" green, than just "think" green.