Woolworths are giving away their plastic bags for free for two weeks, the bags are to cost 15 cents after that and let us be honest, at some point just as likely to end up in land fill as any, paper bags do rot and can be another product made from recycled card board and paper, why not? why too can we not purchase high quality reusable containers for dish washing and other liquids, returning them?

Belly only minutes ago, we heard on the news, that Woolys have had a 'backlash' from the public, over the removal of single use plastic bags, so they are offering them the 15c ones for free for a couple of weeks.
There have been some really emotional angry scenes which led them to this action.
The staff were abused and customers reacted in many strange and angry ways.
I refuse to accept this new rule, not just because it is inconvenient, as I don't want to leave a whole swag of bags in each car, (I have approx 6 cars) 'just in case' I happen to go past the shop for some supplies.
It is a fact that these bags can be chemically designed to break down after a day or two, and they ultimately turn to dust.
The result is not a threat to anything.
So if retailers stepped back to when these bags were first introduced and returned to the good ole' dis-integrating bags of old, the problem would be resolved.
Even if the bags ended up in land-fill they would break down automatically, with or without sunlight.
There is your answer.
Look back to go forward.

ALTRAV you highlight a view I have held for a few years, my training as both a workplace leader and trainer, along with extensive training in health and safety matters for my last job, has me concerned, how safe are those bags in the boot of some cars? what if an out break came of some transmittable disease? are they safe for shop workers? us? yes current news storys clearly show concerns, I think still some one putting toughened one use brown papers bags on sale in store can become very rich, and that replacing one threat to the environment with another is? idiotic at best

Let's stop the lie that our plastic shopping bags have little impact on wild life.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3265825/Shocking-x-ray-autopsy-photos-shopping-bags-kill-sea-turtles-leaving-balls-plastic-stomach-rupture-intestines.html

“Senior veterinarian at Sydney's Taronga Zoo Dr Larry Vogelnest said 70 per cent of turtles they get in have ingested plastic and about 20 per cent of those end up dying”

The plastic bags from asian countries would unlikely be lasting long enough intact to be impacting our oceanic wildlife. These are our own, blown from our own car parks or flushed down our own drains to enter our water ways.

This has been the responsible thing to do and all the people who have been use to shopping at places like Aldi will hardly notice the difference.

It's not just shopping bags though, I bought some cheap paint brushes yesterday and they came in a plastic container; the list is just about endless, I noticed in the hardware store that galvanized gate hinges were in plastic.

It is not just plastic bags. Everything is throw away these days. And the people who moan and groan and invent problems that do not exist should be thrown away, too.