jhbsnoopy
A ban for using plastic bags in the UAE by 2010 has been introduced by the UAE Cabinet degree..
Instead of using plastic bag they are giving substiitutes like jute, paper or biodegradable plastic bags.
They are saying the plastic bags is really harmful not just to us but most especially to the enviroment and animals as well since it can take hundreds of years to degrade.
But are we ready for these? do we have enough source of these alternatives? or do we need to pay extra charge especially in the supermarkets and malls for using biodegradable bags?
Chocoholic
Well I think people should reuse the plastic bags they get from supermarkets. Take the same ones back and reuse them.
Yes, of course biodegradable bags are a better alternative.
In the yester-year of the UAE we used to joke about the blue and yellow plastic bag trees.
Of course any option is better than plastic bags.
Stop the backward thinknig already.
silent
i attended many enviromental seminars concerning the palstic bag issues and it sounds dangerous.
i thnk here wen they apply it it will not b 4 free of charge or it will be free of charge for the first few days and then they will charge us..as wat's usual done..
RobbyG
This is due to the new agency IRENA that has been supported by the USofA to be headquartered in the UAE, probably in Abu Dhabi.
IRENA - International Renewable Energy Agency
Currently the UAE is just behind the US in terms of their carbon footprint and they will probably want to change that with this new agency. I expect some very good innovative solutions for the UAE in the future if IRENA gets it footing in the UAE.
As a host country, you have to set an example. Always was and will be that way. Probably the reason why the US recommended the agency to the UAE in the first place. ;) hypocrites :lol:
Anyway, good development.
sage & onion
Bio-degradable is the way to go and it costs a fraction more as it is only an additive that goes into the mix prior to forming the bags. Their should be no need for any extra charge from Supermarkets.
BlackburnRovers
I have no problems with phasing out plastic bags. What would be annoying is if supermarkets start charging insane amounts for alternatives...
Bora Bora
Plastic bags should go!! When this subject comes up it always brings to mind the photos I have seen of camels in the desert that die from ingesting the plastic. The cost of jute bags justifies getting rid of the plastic bags. It's a one off expense, but you just need to remember to take them into the market with you when shopping, something I occasionally forget to do (grrrr)!
billystyle
- BlackburnRovers wrote:
I have no problems with phasing out plastic bags. What would be annoying is if supermarkets start charging insane amounts for alternatives...
You hit the nail on the head.....businesses see this sort of regulation as a win / win for them. They get to look "green" and then create a new revenue stream for their respective business.
It always amazes me that governments go after this sort of stuff without seeing the big picture. I understand that this is but one small step to being eco-friendly but there are literally millions of other things that can be done to save the planet on a much bigger scale.
How about tightening up the emissions on all of these huge trucks. How about putting water efficient plumbing into every structure in Dubai? And don't say it's too expensive because that is just not the case. A low volume shower head is no more than 10 dirhams anywhere in the world.
Have you ever noticed the amount of water that get's used to flush a toilet in Dubai? These toilets use 3-4 times the amount of water their counterparts would use in the UK or US.
Stop taking the easy way out and go after something that is actualy quantifiable and very beneficial in the short term as well as the long term.
billystyle
Quoted from RobbyG
Currently the UAE is just behind the US in terms of their carbon footprint and they will probably want to change that with this new agency. I expect some very good innovative solutions for the UAE in the future if IRENA gets it footing in the UAE.
Uh, I don't think so!
I have heard on numerous occasions and read in the news that the Carbon Footprint per capita in the UAE is more than twice any other country in the world. I believe you are trying to paint the USofA, as you put it, as the big polluter. You could not be further from the truth. Vehicle emissions in the US are much tighter than in the UAE and control of hazardous materials is regulated much more efficiently than the UAE.
Go by any of the million generators that are running in Dubai. Take a close look at all of the Diesel and oil that has been spilt, on purpose I might add around the area. These chemicals leach down into the water table and polute the water for centuries.
Keep in mind that De-salinization is the main source of water in the UAE. THe pollution generated from this practice alone put's gulf states at the fore front of needing green policies. Although I am not sure how you get away from De-sal since that is the only water source around.
I have also read that the gulf cycles itself or flushes itself out over a 200 year period. Scientists claim that with the amount of Brine being put back into the gulf from De-sal that it will become toxic before it has time to flush itself out. I am not sure how true that is but it is certainly interesting to contemplate.
Just my 2 fils
Red Chief
- billystyle wrote:
Stop taking the easy way out and go after something that is actualy quantifiable and very beneficial in the short term as well as the long term.
I cannot agree that it's a small step. Each of us took food in 5-6 plastic bags and a few plastic bottles from a supermarket each day. We use the bags and bottles only once but they are hardly biodegaradable. It takes more than 100 years and as soon as all that stuff was inveneted less than that period ago we have all that unrecyclable waste more and more and more.
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billystyle
- Red Chief wrote:
- billystyle wrote:
Stop taking the easy way out and go after something that is actualy quantifiable and very beneficial in the short term as well as the long term.
I cannot agree that it's a small step. Each of us took food in 5-6 plastic bags and a few plastic bottles from a supermarket each day. We use the bags and bottles only once but they are hardly biodegaradable. It takes more than 100 years and as soon as all that stuff was inveneted less than that period ago we have all that unrecyclable waste more and more and more.
Nobody mentioned bottles.....now the bottles are not bio-degradable but they are highly recyclable......again the gov't is doing little to nothing on this front.
If you can't see that the bags are a very, very tiny fraction of the problem then you don't get it.
Red Chief
- billystyle wrote:
Nobody mentioned bottles.....now the bottles are not bio-degradable but they are highly recyclable......again the gov't is doing little to nothing on this front.
If you can't see that the bags are a very, very tiny fraction of the problem then you don't get it.
Give me a break. I am singing only about what I'm seeing. I think it's you who underestimate the harm of all that plastic. Almost everything around us is plastic nowadays.
The bottles could be recycled if the waste from our houses were sorted in different containers by consumers as it has being done in Germany for last 40 yers. Otherwise it's the same hardly biodegradable mass as plastic packaging, the main core of all those dumps which has been expanded deeper and deeper in the desert.
So even to decide those "small problems" of disposable packagings we need to go a long way. The bags are the first step but in right direction.
Bora Bora
- Red Chief wrote:
- billystyle wrote:
Stop taking the easy way out and go after something that is actualy quantifiable and very beneficial in the short term as well as the long term.
I cannot agree that it's a small step. Each of us took food in 5-6 plastic bags and a few plastic bottles from a supermarket each day. We use the bags and bottles only once but they are hardly biodegaradable. It takes more than 100 years and as soon as all that stuff was inveneted less than that period ago we have all that unrecyclable waste more and more and more.
Yeah, and he took the plastic bottles back to the supermarket to see if he could a deposit back on them.
For this who aren't familiar: In the states they have machines that you take empty plastic soda bottles and soda cans to and for each bottle or can inserted into the machine you would get five cents back. He probably read about it during one of his many lonely nights sitting in a Russian prison.
Bora Bora
Biggest offender in Dubai for the use of plastic bags is Union Coop. They don't charge for the bags and there seems to be a need to put only 2 or 3 items in one bag. There was a time when i would walk out of a UC with 8 or 9 bags and had maybe 13 items, where i could have put it all in 2 or 3 bags. Carrefour has cut back because people now have to pay for the plastic bags, but Spinneys is still pretty generous with them.
Red Chief
- Bora Bora wrote:
Carrefour has cut back because people now have to pay for the plastic bags.
When was it happen? Two days ago nobody charged me for the bags in the City Centre. They are as stupid as before.
Bora Bora
- Red Chief wrote:
- Bora Bora wrote:
Carrefour has cut back because people now have to pay for the plastic bags.
When was it happen? Two days ago nobody charged me for the bags in the City Centre. They are as stupid as before.
You probably stole them.
Red Chief
- Bora Bora wrote:
Yeah, and he took the plastic bottles back to the supermarket to see if he could a deposit back on them.
For this who aren't familiar: In the states they have machines that you take empty plastic soda bottles and soda cans to and for each bottle or can inserted into the machine you would get five cents back. He probably read about it during one of his many lonely nights sitting in a Russian prison.
I don't need to read it, arogant domestic engineer.
In Soviet Union for dozens years we had very effective system of multiple using glass bottles.
First of all we have only a few standard bottles and an extensive network where everybody can exchange empty bottle for money. The cost of bottle was 50 cents (half price of a bottle with bear). There were big plants to clean them.
On arrival all those foreign companies that system was distroyed although it was more sustainable than US one.
Bora Bora
- Red Chief wrote:
- Bora Bora wrote:
Yeah, and he took the plastic bottles back to the supermarket to see if he could a deposit back on them.
For this who aren't familiar: In the states they have machines that you take empty plastic soda bottles and soda cans to and for each bottle or can inserted into the machine you would get five cents back. He probably read about it during one of his many lonely nights sitting in a Russian prison.
I don't need to read it, arogant domestic engineer.
In Soviet Union for dozens years we had very effective system of multiple using glass bottles.
First of all we have only a few standard bottles and an extensive network where everybody can exchange empty bottle for money. The cost of bottle was 50 cents (half price of a bottle with bear). There were a big plants to clean them.
On arrival all those foreign companies that system was distroyed although it was more sustainable than US one.
I bet there were alot of empty vodka bottles returned!! And I certainly wouldn't want to tangle with a bear over 50 cents!!!
Speedhump
- Bora Bora wrote:
- Red Chief wrote:
- Bora Bora wrote:
Yeah, and he took the plastic bottles back to the supermarket to see if he could a deposit back on them.
For this who aren't familiar: In the states they have machines that you take empty plastic soda bottles and soda cans to and for each bottle or can inserted into the machine you would get five cents back. He probably read about it during one of his many lonely nights sitting in a Russian prison.
I don't need to read it, arogant domestic engineer.
In Soviet Union for dozens years we had very effective system of multiple using glass bottles.
First of all we have only a few standard bottles and an extensive network where everybody can exchange empty bottle for money. The cost of bottle was 50 cents (half price of a bottle with bear). There were a big plants to clean them.
On arrival all those foreign companies that system was distroyed although it was more sustainable than US one.
I bet there were alot of empty vodka bottles returned!! And I certainly wouldn't want to tangle with a bear over 50 cents!!!
:D
Red Chief
- Bora Bora wrote:
I bet there were alot of empty vodka bottles returned!! And I certainly wouldn't want to tangle with a bear over 50 cents!!!
Insted you were forced to fight for a few empty plastic bottles with domestic skells because some immigrant from Russia had eaten your plate of free soup.
Bora Bora
- Red Chief wrote:
- Bora Bora wrote:
I bet there were alot of empty vodka bottles returned!! And I certainly wouldn't want to tangle with a bear over 50 cents!!!
Insted you were forced to fight for a few empty plastic bottles with domestic skells because some immigrant from Russia had eaten your plate of free soup.
You got it wrong again Chief. I was throwing the empties at the Russian who was carrying his BOWL of soup when he was leaving the soup kitchen and he dropped it and joined in with all the other Russians, fighting for the empties. I get such a kick out of watching them beat each other up.
You should see them go at it when i toss a vodka bottle at them filled with water. It's an absolute riot!
Red Chief
- Bora Bora wrote:
You got it wrong again Chief. I was throwing the empties at the Russian who was carrying his BOWL of soup when he was leaving the soup kitchen and he dropped it and joined in with all the other Russians, fighting for the empties. I get such a kick out of watching them beat each other up.
You should see them go at it when i toss a vodka bottle at them filled with water. It's an absolute riot!
It's hard to believe that you transfer your loot to anybody else, especially immigranrs, after great battle with native American skells of different races and religious.
You could only blame them for your starvation every day.
Red Chief
Speedy, my friend, what are you doing here? Did you express your opinion on banning plastic bags or you can only smile after lobotomy? Poor guy.
Bora Bora
- Red Chief wrote:
- Bora Bora wrote:
You got it wrong again Chief. I was throwing the empties at the Russian who was carrying his BOWL of soup when he was leaving the soup kitchen and he dropped it and joined in with all the other Russians, fighting for the empties. I get such a kick out of watching them beat each other up.
You should see them go at it when i toss a vodka bottle at them filled with water. It's an absolute riot!
It's hard to believe that you transfer your loot to anybody else, especially immigranrs, after great battle with native American skells of different races and religious.
You could only blame them for your starvation every day.
Huh??? I want to correct your statement about me transferring my loot. Every day I would go to the poor Russian neigborhoods and drop my trash off. When they saw me coming they used to run after my car while I tossed it out the window. I was very generous to them even though I know how ungrateful they could be.
Speedhump
- Red Chief wrote:
Speedy, my friend, what are you doing here? Did you express your opinion on banning plastic bags or you can only smile after lobotomy? Poor guy.
I was chuckling at the bear comment of Bora's which was funny.
Plastic bags? Not a fan, but I could think of a great use for one right now...creep up behind you with great stealth, and.....over the head. Permanent relief for everyone. Not going to work with a jute bag now, is it??? :D
Bora Bora
- Speedhump wrote:
- Red Chief wrote:
Speedy, my friend, what are you doing here? Did you express your opinion on banning plastic bags or you can only smile after lobotomy? Poor guy.
I was chuckling at the bear comment of Bora's which was funny.
Plastic bags? Not a fan, but I could think of a great use for one right now...creep up behind you with great stealth, and.....over the head. Permanent relief for everyone. Not going to work with a jute bag now, is it??? :D
:lol:
Red Chief
- Speedhump wrote:
I was chuckling at the bear comment of Bora's which was funny.
Plastic bags? Not a fan, but I could think of a great use for one right now...creep up behind you with great stealth, and.....over the head. Permanent relief for everyone. Not going to work with a jute bag now, is it??? :D
The Ward Number Six is the most cheerful in the world. :)
RobbyG
- Bora Bora wrote:
- Speedhump wrote:
- Red Chief wrote:
Speedy, my friend, what are you doing here? Did you express your opinion on banning plastic bags or you can only smile after lobotomy? Poor guy.
I was chuckling at the bear comment of Bora's which was funny.
Plastic bags? Not a fan, but I could think of a great use for one right now...creep up behind you with great stealth, and.....over the head. Permanent relief for everyone. Not going to work with a jute bag now, is it??? :D
:lol:
:lol:
RobbyG
- Red Chief wrote:
- Speedhump wrote:
I was chuckling at the bear comment of Bora's which was funny.
Plastic bags? Not a fan, but I could think of a great use for one right now...creep up behind you with great stealth, and.....over the head. Permanent relief for everyone. Not going to work with a jute bag now, is it??? :D
The Ward Number Six is the most cheerful in the world. :)
:roll: ...lets see...what to do with this. Ah yess :pottytrain5:
Red Chief
- Bora Bora wrote:
Huh??? I want to correct your statement about me transferring my loot. Every day I would go to the poor Russian neigborhoods and drop my trash off. When they saw me coming they used to run after my car while I tossed it out the window. I was very generous to them even though I know how ungrateful they could be.
Rather average, Bora, even after second attempt. Struggle one more but I am not waiting for a lot from your damaged brain.
Bora Bora
- Red Chief wrote:
- Bora Bora wrote:
Huh??? I want to correct your statement about me transferring my loot. Every day I would go to the poor Russian neigborhoods and drop my trash off. When they saw me coming they used to run after my car while I tossed it out the window. I was very generous to them even though I know how ungrateful they could be.
Rather average, Bora, even after second attempt. Struggle one more but I am not waiting for a lot from your damaged brain.
Well Chief, you remind me of the saying: Everyone else is crazy, it's not me. Back to the institution for you.
Red Chief
I didn't say that. You are simply dull, not crazy.