Which countries already have plastic bag bans?

Part of the Argentian campaign to reduce plastic bag usage.

We talk a lot about government overreach these days. And by “we” we mean the politicians who are somewhat ironically doing the overreaching.  But as we know, overreaching is in the eye of the beholder, and one man’s EPA is another man’s socialism. 

The thing about citizenry, though, is that we’re like water. We find the path of least resistance and take it. And that means choosing the most convenient option. For instance, a large majority of grocery shoppers know that single use disposable bags at checkout are bad for the environment, but, “Oh shucks, I left my reusable bags in the car again. What’s the big deal if I take a few bags just this once?”

Here’s the big deal. Every year, Americans use 380 billion plastic bags every year, and only recycle about 2%. And the remaining tons of bag-shaped-petroleum-carrying devices end up in landfills, oceans, streams, parks, and city streets. Birds, fish, and animals eat them, or they photodegrade* into pieces that end up in the food chain. Not to mention all the oil that’s wasted in the process.

So long as they’re free and convenient, plastic bags aren’t going anywhere. Actually, to be more precise, they’re going into our waterways and parks. But they’ll still be at the supermarket checkout and we’ll still use them unless we have a concrete reason to take them away.

Which is why we need a ban. Groups like Bag It, Heal the Bay, and Ban the Bag are doing great work to ban plastic bags in municipalities around America, but we lag way behind the rest of the world in this department. Here's a list of countries that already have bans. Spoiler alert: they’re not as first world as you think.

(Some of the) Countries and municipalities with bans or thickness guidelines:

Bangladesh (Admittedly, it's not going according to plan.)
Bhutan (To keep up their Gross Happiness Quotient.)
Buenos Aires (The province, not the metropolis.)
China (Now saving 37 million barrels of oil a year!)
Eritrea (Part of wave of African nations banning the bag.)
Italy (First European country with an outright ban.)
Kenya (One of a few East African nations realizing that "only plants give us flowers.")
Mexico City (Just one part of citywide Plan Verde!)
Rwanda (If one of the poorest and most recently war-ravaged countries can do it, so can we!)
Somalia (Not too much information on the Web, but here's a shoutout!)
South Africa (As of 2003, 5-figure fines for retailers in violation.)
Tanzania (One of the original African countries in the ban-the-bag club.)
Uganda (Nixed the bags that sullied some of the most fertile soil in Africa.)
Zanzibar (Also not going according to plan, but enforcement efforts have recenty increased.)

*Full disclosure: I wrote the script for this video at my day job!