People in Thailand are stuffing their T-shirts, luggage, laundry hampers, and buckets with groceries after a ban on plastic bags in select retailers in the country went into effect on January 1st. Creative shoppers brought in wheelbarrows, fishing nets, and even what looks like an impressive piece of pottery to haul their groceries home.
Thailand no longer allows major stores to offer customers single-use plastic bags, and by 2021, they won’t be allowed at any shops. The move has inspired shoppers to reuse everyday household items for their errands, which is arguably better for the environment than buying a new reusable bag. A reusable polyester bag needs to be used 35 times and a cotton tote bag used 7,100 times before their environmental impacts (when it comes to water and energy use) fall below that of a typical flimsy plastic grocery bag, according to one study by Denmark’s Ministry of Environment and Food.
Mexico City also rang in the New Year with a new ban on plastic bags. There, the law is expected to bring back traditional ways of packaging and carrying goods, like using straw baskets and paper rolled up in cones. “We have a very rich history in ways to wrap things,” Claudia Hernández, the city’s director of environmental awareness, told The Associated Press.
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