Letter: Removing plastic bags won't achieve anything

We get them for no cost when we shop.

Forcing us to pay for these bags imposes a cost on shoppers who would now have to buy single-use plastic bags. There seems to be an attitude by the proponents that we all need educating.

We all have access to televisions and have an awareness of the implications of plastic bags.

Yet, we choose to use plastic because they serve a practical purpose for us. We all know plastic bags can choke turtles and some birds will end up with plastic in their stomachs.

Fortunately, this doesn't happen in the South West because we don't have turtles.

Dolphins and sharks are discerning enough not to eat plastic. I have yet to find a fish gullet containing plastic. Local birds also seem to avoid consuming plastic.

This isn't the case in some places of the world. Fortunately, here in the South West we don't find plastic bags on the ocean floor.

As a lifelong diver I can't recall ever finding even one plastic bag on our local ocean floor. Animals finding plastic on our beaches don't eat them.

Almost every product we buy from all supermarkets is wrapped in plastic. I would prefer paper and waxed paper wrappings and might buy a product so wrapped. Persecuting local shoppers is counterproductive.

It will be far more productive to encourage manufacturers to find more creative wrapping methods.

In the meanwhile we will receive items wrapped in plastic and removing a free single-use plastic bag won't achieve anything.

It's worth noting that for two decades countries in Europe adopted a policy similar to phasing out single-use plastic bags by charging for them and yet they have now largely reverted to supplying plastic bags free-of-charge. It simply was a policy, which didn't work.

Let's not reinvent a wheel that doesn't roll.

Thierry Le Fevre, Margaret River

See a local resident's response to Thierry's letter here.

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