Supermarkets cut down on plastic bags in support for ESO's anti plastic bag campaign

According to a recent survey, about 6 million plastic bags are used each month by supermarkets in the capital area alone, and retailers have agreed to reduce the overall environmental impact of their carrier bags starting from January 8th 2009.

The move comes in response to a concerted call for action from the Environment Society of Oman and its latest "No To Plastic Bags For Oman" Campaign.

The active involvement of supermarket chains will help change consumer behaviour over time and urge shoppers to keep and reuse the bags on future shopping trips thereby reducing the amount of disposable carrier bags in the future.

H.H. Sayyida Tania bint Shabib Al Said, President of ESO said:

"We are delighted that supermarkets have responded so positively to ESO's challenge to cut the number of plastic bags used by consumers. Our partner retail outlets have shown their commitment to our campaign by agreeing to the training of their staff on the best practices of packing bags as well as educating them on the harms of plastic bags to our environment."

As part of the agreement, supermarkets have agreed to change their policies and not give out plastic bags to shoppers who have three items or less.

In addition, check-out operators and packers will soon be asking customers to think twice before they accept plastic bags, and will encourage them to use reusable jute bags instead.

Some supermarkets have also agreed to run their own in-store campaigns in the future and provide reusuable bags for purchase as an alternative to plastic.

"We realize that creating a change in behaviour is a long process and there are many more steps to take, where full support and participation by the retail sector and general public is needed. We want to make it as simple as we can for everyone to take action now. People often want to do their bit, but don't often know where to start; now there's an alternative. What we want everyone to do is to reduce, reuse and refuse plastic bags. If you don't need a one - say no," concluded H.H. Sayyida Tania.