China gets a lot of bad press on just about everything — lead tainted products, pollution levels, labor laws, and politics. But National Geographic is reporting that Beijing has taken a welcome initiative in cutting down environmental pollution by banning the use and sale of some plastic bags in the country.
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The legislation, slated to take effect June 1st before the Olympic Games open, prohibits shop owners and businesses from using bags that are less than 0.025 millimeters thick, although bags of higher thickness will be allowed in markets and certain other shops. The government is also encouraging a return to traditional cloth shopping bags, which have faded out of public favor with the rise of Western style retail outlets that don’t require users to bring their own bags.
China is not the first Asian county to impose restrictions on the use and sale of plastic bags — Bangladesh has banned them, and Taiwan too has laws in place regulating their use — but the sheer size and scale of its economy (and the corresponding wastage) means Beijing’s initiative gives reason for environmentalists to cheer.