Plastic bags are pretty deplorable by any environmental measure. I have to hold my tongue every time I go to the grocery store because in my native South Carolina, the bags are still handed out a few at a time.

In terms of consumption and pollution, they’re the symbol of what we’re doing wrong–made from oil, clogging up waterways and oceans, and choking turtles, birds and all sorts of sea creatures along the way. Yet, the U.S. has been slow to act. Maybe now we can take some cues from the European Union.

The EU is aiming to reduce use of plastic bags by 80 percent in the next decade. EU governments have unanimously approved the plan though bag use varies widely across the continent. In Denmark, for example, people use an average of four plastic bags per year but in Portugal they use about 100 times more. The plan was downgraded from an outright ban to appease the U.K.

According to The Guardian:

Under the new proposal, EU states can opt for mandatory pricing of bags by 2019, or binding targets to reduce the number of plastic bags used annually per person from 191 now to 90 by 2019 and 40 in 2025. Measures such as bag taxes could also be considered as equivalent.

“The significance of this package is enormous,” the Dutch Liberal MEP Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy told the Guardian. “It is a huge victory for not only the European environment but also globally as most of these single-use bags end up in the world’s oceans and are one of the big causes of the ‘plastic soup’ phenomenon.”

Now how can we get a plastic bag reduction plan like this in place on the other side of the Atlantic?

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Image : Michael Coghlan

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Did you know that each year Americans throw away around 100 billion polyethylene plastic bags? Less than 0.6 percent of those are recycled. And that Americans buy 28 billion disposable plastic bottles of water a year?

When we’re on the go it’s easy to forget about the real impact of our choices, especially when it comes to plastic. The ease of buying an occasional bottle of water or packing groceries in a plastic bag when you forget your reusable one might not feel like an environmentally detrimental choice, but small choices add up quickly. Fortunately, changes in the industry are slowly happening, making it easier for you to commit to kicking the single-use plastic habit.

Plastic bag bans and fees are a common topic of debate in environmental communities, and Wal-Mart is the latest business to join in the discussion. Starting January 1st, Wal-Mart will institute a pilot program at three stores in California, where no single-use plastic bags will be provided to consumers. Shoppers will instead have a choice between purchasing three different reusable bags, reasonably priced at $1, 50 cents and 15 cents. The pilot program will test how consumers will deal with stores that do not offer free bags. Not providing plastic bags could have a significant impact at large stores like Wal-Mart; the retail giant alone was responsible for handing out 27 billion plastic bags in 2007.

The anti-plastic bag movement is also spreading on regional levels. This week Delaware passed a law that will require larger stores to all offer reusable bags to their consumers. Even in Phuket, Thailand, a group of business owners recently passed an agreement to institute a small fee on plastic bags. Although it is unknown what impact policies like this will have in the long term, it’s certainly a step in the right direction, encouraging consumers to choose reusable bags whenever possible.

The other culprit in single-use plastic waste is bottled water. In a progressive move, Canada-based Naya Spring Water announced this week that it is the first bottled water company to use 100% recycled plastic in its bottles. The company also reportedly recycles 96% of waste from its plant, including paper, cardboard and plastic.

But is buying a recycled plastic bottle water that’s still a single-use item that sustainable? It’s great to recycle materials that otherwise would have gone straight to the landfill, but supporting the purchase of single-use products inevitably leads us to consume more and waste more. In a pinch, opt for the recycled plastic bottle of water, but when possible, keep your reusable drinking vessel in tow.

Photo credits: vieux bandit, zone41

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