Q Does Hong Kong use too much plastic?
It's highly commendable that the Green Student Council should be so concerned. However, I feel that they have not thought this issue through as fully as they might. The 'free' supermarket bag will, after carrying groceries home, have a second life as a bin-liner.
Ask any self-respecting sanitation worker and he will tell you that vast amounts of household rubbish are disposed of in supermarket bags. To recycle plastic bags at least once is much better than having people buy plastic bags as one-use-only bin liners.
As an adjunct, enclosing rubbish - particularly kitchen trash - in plastic is hygienic and has made a major contribution to the reduction of vermin in Hong Kong. Apart from that, keep up the good green work.
Peter Mallen, Pokfulam
I was interested to read the results of the Green Student Council survey. While I confess I seldom have my own bag when shopping, I am not surprised that the survey indicates an overuse of plastic bags.
