Without a doubt, the banning of free plastic bags in China was one of the largest symbolic steps we witnessed during 2008.It gained praise and media exposure from around the world, which reinforced the point that it was a good step, and it reached into China’s consumer to make changes as well.

Of course, the impact was mitigated by the fact that the pricing for the bags was set too low, and while the free bag volume fell off, there was a spike in use of the fruit/ veg bags that were still available.

Where I would have been more impressed, were if China had said no bags at all, a step that Yunnan has just taken.

That’s right, starting Thursday, no more plastic bags will be available in Yunnan province – legally:

The ban means that on the first day of next year, no plastic bags will be available in all supermarkets, department stores, shopping outlets, hotels, restaurants and service sites in the province. Businesses will instead offer truly environment-friendly shopping bags, either free or charged.

and what interests me most about the announcement, is that this is being done after successfully putting into place a similiar ban years ago in the historic Lijiang and Shangri La regions:

When the thorough ban was first introduced, stall keepers tried to use newspapers to wrap meat and bean curds sold at farm produce fairs. When they returned home, buyers were annoyed to see their bean curds were left with the clear imprint of newspapers. The county also tried to persuade users to put vegetables in bamboo and straw stalk woven baskets, but people found it inconvenient to take along either.

The county eventually found out the best way — to promote reusable and degradable bags.

No doubt, the 2 day notice is bound to irk many stores who already bought their supply of bags, and it will be very interesting to see if enforcement will be maintained over the long term, but I am impressed.