Raising environmental awareness on the mainland is not easy. With hundreds of millions of people focused on making ends meet, it's no surprise that 3 billion plastic bags are used every day. They amount to 1.6 million tonnes of non-biodegradable waste a year, a figure the government would like to reduce to 1.1 million tonnes. To achieve that, shops and sole traders have been banned from giving out free plastic bags thinner than 0.025mm. Places that continue to do so now face fines of up to 10,000 yuan (HK$11,296). At first sight, it seems like a sensible move. But it isn't. Not only is the law virtually unenforceable, it does nothing to educate people about why they shouldn't use plastic bags. A survey in 10 major cities found that 69 per cent of respondents thought the ban would have a limited effect on improving the environment because many people will carry on using plastic bags. There is no shortage of environmental protection laws on the mainland. The first was passed in 1989 and every year seems to bring a new raft of regulations. None, though, have achieved its goal. The state of the environment is worse, not better. What's lacking, especially at a local level, is the will to enforce the laws. The mainland's environmental crisis will never be solved solely by legislation. It is only through educating the public about the need to protect the environment that real change will take place. But there has been no media campaign explaining that plastic bags are bad because the country is almost choking on them, or that making them requires huge amounts of oil. The Ministry of Health made a similar mistake earlier this year when officials introduced a partial smoking ban. People were just told that smoking was now banned in certain public places. But with almost 10 per cent of the mainland's 350 million smokers unaware that smoking is harmful, a comprehensive public health education campaign was needed to get them to quit. A few television adverts showing the effects of smoking would have been far more effective than a ban that can be flouted almost at will. This lack of public awareness usually backfires because, even when authorities come up with an effective policy, few people can recognise its benefits. In March, the government unveiled the eminently sensible idea of 'green insurance', which will require industries that pose a pollution risk to insure themselves. However, a survey in the China Youth Daily revealed that almost 65 per cent of respondents had no idea what 'green insurance' is. By relying on legislation alone, there's a suspicion that the government is simply paying lip service to overseas pressure to improve the mainland's environment, as well as to the small but growing number of people at home who are prepared to protest about the damage caused by pollution. It is only when people understand the reasons for the laws that change occurs. David Eimer is a Beijing-based journalist