I refer to the article, 'Plastic Bags are not the enemy', published in The Straits Times on Saturday, 12th May 2007.

In it, the writer, Andy Ho, discusses the plausibility of adopting a plastic-bag-free society in a bid to do our part for the imperiled environment. Of course, the route to obliteration that the world had embarked on was designated by humans, and now, the efforts we take to steer Mother Earth back on the right track seem to be derisive and ironic, if I may suggest. Maybe it is why this article is of such great importance to us. It reveals an interesting fact ; that replacing the plastic bag with paper or cotton grocery bags may not be such a 'helpful' effort after all.

Quote 'Research in several countries shows that the main problem with plastic bags is not their environmental impact per se but littering.' The crux of the article lies in this line. The general misperception that most of us have, is that plastic bags are non-biodegradeable, which makes for less of a conservation effort for our environment as they will inevitably end up polluting our world when the only viable option to get rid of the plastic waste would be to incinerate them. However, this article throws light on the actual figures shrouding the so called alternatives to plastic bags. Comparing the consequences of using the paper bag and the plastic bag, results show us that we are not actually getting a better deal by switching over to using reusable carriers, and we risk doing more harm to the environment.

Alternative measures may not always be our best bet, in this case the plastic bags. However, I'm sure most people will think twice about the perceived repercussions from using plastic bags, as opposed to using paper bags. We ought to ponder extensively over our plans, and strategise our goals to suit our country's aims to conserve our environment. This is to make sure the facade of our efforts is not the only outlook we are trying to achieve. The deeper meaning to conservation should stem from our hearts' desires to do a part for what is really good for Mother Earth.