In the Bag--- NOT!

Me, out shopping--ha, ha!

    Without any modesty whatsoever, let me mention that, back in Japan, I was recycling plastic bags and taking my own shopping bags to the supermarket looooong before anybody thought it was cool.  So, when we hit Penang, I was ready, willing and able to get on board their "No Plastic Bag" bandwagon.  


      I was pleasantly surprised at the degree of compliance  in Penang.  (Can't speak for all of Malaysia.)   I understand that the "No Plastic Bag Campaign" began right here back in 2010 with the initial target being only Mondays.  Then,  it  was gradually extend-ed so that by the time we got here last summer, it was Mondays through Thursdays. Then it expanded to Saturdays (but not Sundays) and stores reported reduced sales on Saturdays and booming sales on Sundays.  Could the lack of free plastic bags have caused such a profound change in shopping habits?  Apparently so.


         Since last January, it's been extended to every day of the week and there are serious penalties for retail outlets that don't comply.  This causes usually sweet and smiling clerks to become almost vicious if you approach the cash register and appear to be empty-handed.  They frown and before they even start checking you out, they growl, "No plastic bag, OK?"  But once they see me, with my fistful of thermal bags, eco-bags and rubber-banded plastic bags, they relax and become the charming folks they normally are.   If you don't have your own bag with you, of course they'll sell you one for just pennies, with the money going to charity to alleviate extreme poverty.  But they don't want to!

 Tragic, and ugly!

    
     I think Penang was the first of the Malaysian states to inaugurate a "No Plastic Bag" campaign and they're very, very serious about reducing their use.  And well they should!  Scenes like this are not uncommon and the beaches can be pretty trashy, too. 

Take-away hawker food--in a bag!

    You might ask, "Well, if stores aren't giving out plastic bags when people shop, where are they all coming from?"  My best guess is the ubiquitous take-away hawker food and drink.  Food is invariably packed up in a plastic bag, either pink or green, and you seldom see a Malaysian at lunchtime without one.   You also see them in the morning, as people stop to buy hawker food to get them through the day.

Coffee in a bag

      
      Take-away coffee is served up in a plastic bag, too, and there's quite an art to getting your straw poked into the top in such a way that the coffee doesn't spill out.  


     Unfortunately, many of these thin plastic bags don't get thrown away properly.  They litter the streets and beaches, despite the efforts of street cleaners to clear them away every morning.   It must seem like a thankless, never-ending task to them.


       I read that there was another campaign afoot here in George Town called "100 Steps to Cleanliness".  It's supposed to provide a plastic rubbish disposal bin every 100 steps.  There's a slim chance of that ever happening, but what a wonderful thing it would be if it did!