Letters: Phasing out plastic bags

Indeed, it takes time to educate people not to use plastic bags. The Jakarta administration should issue a rule to ban plastic bags; they should take serious action and not just talk about it.  I do not like the statement “a long way to go to phase out plastic bags” but a serious beginning should be made now.

Governor Fauzi Bowo should make Jakarta an example and should send teams of nice-looking young Jakartans to give information on the negative impact of plastic bags to its citizens, starting at kindergarten, elementary and high schools.

All TV channels should be obliged to air a few minutes of “Make Jakarta a plastic-bag-free city”.  Advertising companies should come up with smart ads banning plastic bags and stimulate the use of cotton and paper shopping bags.

Plastic bags clog drainage systems, canals, gutters, ditches and the sooner Jakarta citizens realize this fact, the easier it will be for those who live in flood-prone areas like Kampung Melayu, to support the prohibition of plastic bags. Jakartans pay taxes and should have the right to lead a flood-free life.

I urge soap opera (sinetron) producers to write scenarios where the use of environmentally friendly shopping bags should be actively introduced to the public in dialogues between actors/actresses. The media is a powerful weapon and they should stimulate the use of these environmentally friendly shopping bags to  citizens in the Greater Jakarta (Jabotabek) area. 

Popular artists and musicians should actively participate and help the Jakarta administration to introduce paper and cotton shopping bags. If Jakarta is successful, soon other cities will follow suit. Design house Fashion First should step up its sales to the public by designing colorful cotton or paper shopping bags with funny words and logos to attract more buyers.  

Plastic bag producers should stop production of this pollution-causing product and start production of environmentally friendly shopping bags. None will be fired from their jobs; the only thing that will change is the production of a different, but better, product.


Lynna van der Zee-Oehmke
Bogor, West Java