Choose reusable bags, not plastic ones

THOSE shopping at the Giant Hypermart early yesterday walked away with more than just their purchases: they also received complimentary reusable bags as part of the national campaign to cut down on plastic bag usage.

The campaign, themed 'Reducing the Use of Plastic Bag Towards A Low Carbon Economy' was launched yesterday at the Giant premises in Rimba by Pehin Orang Kaya Hamzah Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Abdullah Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar, Minister of Development.

Yusrin Hadi Ghani, an environment officer at the Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation (DEPR) said the campaign was held in cooperation with two large retailers, Giant and Supa Save, to provide reusable shopping bags for the public.

The department is planning to get other supermarkets to be involved in the drive. "For a start, the department would approach these supermarkets and distribute reusable bags for them in a bid to encourage their consumers to use these bags. We also hope to expand the campaign to the three other districts Belait, Tutong and Temburong," he said.

When asked about the public response for the reusable bags, he replied it was positive. "I have seen people carrying their reusable bags when they go shopping," he said.

Rozabella Junaidi, a Health and Safety Analyst from Petrokon Engineering With Integrity (P-EWI), a company of Industrial Health Safety and Environment (HSE) Risk Assessment Consultants said that the company is one of the campaign sponsors and is lending its support to the campaign "promote the use of reusable bag and reduce the use of plastic bags and to promote products that are environmentally friendly."

P-EWI is a supporter of reusable bags and in April had donated 1,500 reusable bags to DEPR for distribution to the public.

A frequent Giant customer Siti Hawa Jubaidin said that the campaign is a good effort. She was concerned, however, about the size of the available reusable bags.

"It may be a little bit of a hassle if we are buy a lot of groceries as we need more bags to carry them," she said.

Regarding this issue, Yusrin Hadi commented, "The public needs to realise that it is not cheap to produce the reusable bags. The total cost of production for each bag is $1.40, but with the subsidies by Giant and Supa Save, consumers now only have to pay $1 per bag."

If consumers need more bags for their goods, they should buy more. "These bags can be used hundreds of times and $10 spent on 10 of these reusable bags, for example would really help to create a greener and eco-friendly environment," he said.

Susanne Purvis from Kuala Belait was shopping for the first time at Giant Hypermart yesterday. The complimentary bags are a welcome addition to the ones she already has. She said, "I am a great believer in using reusable bags. I do not use any plastic bags when I go groceries shopping. We are using and wasting a lot of plastic already and these plastics take hundred of years to degrade."

The Brunei Times