The Chinese government has taken a huge step towards reducing pollution and increasing recycling efforts: beginning June 1 of this year, all retailers will be banned from giving out plastic bags to customers. This law includes not only banning the use of plastic bags in stores, but also stopping their entire production in China. You can read more about this countrywide eco-effort here.

Basically, the law will help reduce the amount of plastic that is being dumped into landfills or burned out in the open, both of which have contributed to China’s high amount of land and water pollution.

I think that this is a great idea, and it comes just in time before the 2008 summer Olympics, which are being held in Beijing. This is the perfect way to show the world that they are not only a great host to one of the biggest events in the world, but that they are also eco-friendly.

Eco-Friendly Shopping Bags

Instead of using non-biodegradable plastic bags, Chinese customers will be urged to bring their own cloth bags or baskets with them whenever they go shopping. An even better alternative to bringing regular cloth bags is to bring 100% organic or recycled bags. I found a few good sites such as Reusablebags.com, Ecobags.com and MalmoExports.com, all which offer organic or recycled shopping bags that can be reused over and over again for shopping or personal use.

Corn-Based Shopping Bags

Another great alternative to regular plastic grocery bags that I discovered is the plastic shopping bag’made from corn! I mentioned this technology in a previous blog about corn credit cards, and the same method is being used to turn corn into polyethylene/polypropylene plastic. This plastic is 100% biodegradable and can be used for any type of plastic-based bag, including kitchen and lawn bags. You can check out the Bio Bag website to see all the products.

I’m glad that China is making an effort to reduce its pollution. I hope that we can follow in their footsteps, especially with plastic bag alternatives like the ones listed above. If the world’s largest and most populated country can get its citizens to be more eco-friendly, then we can as well!