Comments on: To Bag or Not to Bag, That is the Olympic Question

By: Benjamin Ross

Benjamin Ross — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:47:29 +0000

Yesterday in Harbin I bought a pocket size notebook and pen in a small shop. I asked for a bag, and was given one without charge. I am going to keep trying it out throughout my trip to see whether or not I get charged.

By: ZL

ZL — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 01:28:51 +0000

@Lily
It’s the same in Nanjing, the chain grocers charge for bags, but buying a liter of tea and a liter of coca-cola at the small family shop still results in 2 plastic bags free of charge.

By: Serge

Serge — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:25:02 +0000

Yes, I was also amazed at first, but then you take it for granted and expect everything to wrapped in it’s own plastic bag… So I was quite surprised when the stuff I bought wasn’t wrapped in even one simple plastic bag, instead I was pointed to the sign that said (in Chinese of course) how much each bag costs.

Well done! Now when it costs I noticed less and less locals requesting them, they bring their own now! I’m not sure if I remember correctly but I think it was about 8 billion plastic bags used in China dayly…

By: chriswaugh_bj

chriswaugh_bj — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 10:23:15 +0000

We’ve now accumulated two Jingkelong-branded, one Carrefour-branded, and one unbranded but lurid green Shouhang bag. The Jingkelong and Shouhang bags are cloth- quite possibly with a high plastic content, but still cloth. The Carrefour bag is mostly plastic.

But Ben, I don’t think this policy has much to do with the Olympics, it seems to fit more with the growing emphasis on environmental protection. In fact, I see it as having a stronger connection with the emphasis on developing renewable energy than with any silly sports meet. So I do expect this to last.

By: Benjamin Ross

Benjamin Ross — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:11:08 +0000

@ Red Kemp

Yup.

By: RedKemp

RedKemp — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:34:06 +0000

I saw “100% Cotton Bags” in the chart above. Does this mean that stores in China are now selling their own branded reusable bags like grocery stores in the US?

By: Lily

Lily — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:30:02 +0000

Actually maybe that is carried out much better in Beijing. In Fujian, only big supermarket followed the rule. For traditional market 农贸市场, the plastic bags of different colors are still common.

By: The Tortoise and The Plastic Bag | The China Expat

The Tortoise and The Plastic Bag | The China Expat — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:08:42 +0000

[...] Thankfully China’s new bagging policy (Ben’s post inspired me to write this) that went into effect nationwide on June 1st will help avoid tragedies like the one above. [...]

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:20:09 +0000

Now I don’t have plastic bags at home I need to buy plastic rubbsh bags, though the quality in China is so bad I need to double bag. Hence the cycle continues..