From Hamburg to Sydney: a travelogue on a theme of plastic bags
Australian travel with a difference. Explore the plastic bag issue with our two GEJI reporters from the University of Hamburg, Imke Emmerich and Laura Schneider.
Watch a video of Imke Emmerich and Laura Schneider talking about their findings in Sydney:
Before we arrived in Australia, we were expecting it to be an environmentally friendly place because we had read in the German press that your Federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, was leading the way on plastic bags by taking action to drastically reduce their use by the end of 2008. So when we first went shopping in Sydney, we were shocked to see how many people routinely used plastic bags.
Even without asking, we were handed free bags. In Germany this does not happen in a supermarket. Normally you have to buy them for about 10 Euro cents. (One exception is inside the supermarkets at the fruit and veg stall, where you can use thin plastic bags for free. This also happens at smaller fruit and vegetable shops or at markets.)
At home it is seen as plain common sense to take an old plastic bag with you, or cotton bags (widely used) or shopping baskets. Certain supermarkets, such as Marktkauf and Budnikowsky, even give away free recycled paper bags.
So while we were in Sydney, we did some research for GEJI on plastic bag use in the city. We observed supermarkets in the inner, western and eastern suburbs and observed that:
- Generally supermarkets give away plastic bags without asking customers if they want them.
- Very few items are put into each bag (between one and seven).
- Each customer has between one and 15 bags – the average for a small survey we carried out in Parramatta and Bankstown on March 3, 2009 was 2.26 bags per person.
- Although the big supermarket chains say they have signs and policies encouraging people to save on plastic, their own employees often ignore them and simply hand out bags.
- It seems people take the bags out of habit; some even put them in backpacks. But we did see a few more young people used backpacks alone.
- Compared to what we saw in inner Sydney, very few people in Bankstown and Cabramatta used green bags.
- When we visited the German supermarket chain Aldi, we expected to find that it followed the Australian pattern. We were surprised that here Aldi supermarkets charge 15c per bag, so nearly everybody brings his or her own plastic or green bag.
After a month in Sydney and some plastic bag-counting days in local supermarkets we headed north to Queensland to discover any differences in the use of plastic bags – in between seeing the sights and having fun. Here is our account.
March 20, Cairns
Flying over the beautiful tropical landscape of Cairns our first thought was: people here would certainly do all they could to protect and maintain their rich nature. And when we entered Woolworths in the city centre we quickly noticed that there did appear to be a different awareness of using plastic bags. Several tables were filled with environmentally friendly green bags – the signs were huge and you could hardly miss them. As we walked through the aisles we saw green bags hanging on almost every column. They were even on the shelves – it almost seemed they were being used as decoration. Signs at every checkout reminded customers about saving plastic bags and if someone still did not get the message, Woolworths even provided a recycling bin for them. If customers did understand the importance of saving bags, they could use the supermarket’s cardboard boxes. Our conclusion: you could not do more to stop people using plastic bags and to make them rethink their behaviour.
But sadly, it did not seem to be working. Although some green bags were bought or owned, most customers still left the checkout with lots of plastic.
One positive aspect was that locals tried to educate tourists in how to protect and appreciate nature. On our trip to the Great Barrier Reef we were told several times not to leave plastic cups and bags unattended. Turtles love eating jellyfish and cannot distinguish between them and plastic bags. The result: they can choke trying to eat these dangerous look-alikes that the wind blew into the sea.
Survey result: In 20 minutes, 65 people left carrying 102 plastic bags, nine green bags, 10 backpacks and one cotton bag.
March 22, Port Douglas
Heading north to Port Douglas, the environment was even greener and almost untouched. Would the supermarket policies match the environment? We were wrong! The local Coles supermarket did not place green bags in prominent spots, nor did it advertise them on signs. They were at the checkouts, however, and when you buy fewer than four items employees ask if a plastic bag is needed.
Survey result: In 20 minutes, 54 people, 93 plastic bags, four green bags, five own bags.
March 25, Atherton, Atherton Tablelands
Checking out our first almost outback Woolworths, we discovered a new and interesting shopping behaviour as well as a different supermarket policy: if we bought just three items we weren’t even asked if we needed a bag – we just didn’t get one.
Directly in front of every checkout, clearly visible to every customer, were big signs that read: No bag for three items or less!
No other Woolworths had these or similar signs placed that obviously. And even the cashiers’ computers reminded them not to put fewer than seven items in one plastic bag. This place was different from all the others.
It was also the first time in Australia we had seen customers taking the cardboard boxes provided by the supermarket. But although a lot of green bags were bought, there were still many people carrying away 10 plastic bags or more. It seemed likely that they bought groceries for the whole week in this tablelands hub.
Survey result: 57 people, 164 plastic bags, 37 green bags!
March 28, Mossman
Heading to Cape Tribulation and the rainforest we stopped in Woolworths at Mossman – a town between Port Douglas and Daintree National Park. There were fewer people here but some were carrying up to 14 – yes, 14 – plastic bags. We assumed that Woolworths here must be a supermarket where people from smaller, outlying communities buy their weekly groceries. On average, it was three plastic bags per shopper – even more than in Sydney. But here, too, some people brought their own bags or green bags. We noticed that customers with just two or three items also didn’t get a bag. Mossman’s Woolworths also had signs put up to draw customers’ attention towards using green bags. Driving out of the parking lot we saw a sticker on a wall saying: Say no to plastic bags!
Survey result: 57 people, 158 plastic bags, 19 green bags, 16 own bags.
March 31, Charters Towers
We went sailing in the beautiful Whitsundays and planned to survey Airlie Beach, a very touristy town. However, the Woolworths was way out of town and there was no bus to take us there. So we set out for our first serious outback town, Charters Towers. Sadly, it was Sunday and all the big supermarkets were shut.
April 2, South Yarra
From Queensland we headed south to Australia’s second biggest city, Melbourne, the capital of Victoria. We chose a well known shopping area, Chapel Street, for our survey. It seemed to us that the people there were alternative and a little bohemian-looking. For the first time during our research trip we counted fewer plastic bags than people shopping for groceries. Many customers also brought their own bags. One thing we discovered and found very interesting: although Coles didn’t display any signs for reusable bags and the only green bags we saw were just a few at one checkout, people, including a few older ones, used them nevertheless. It seems that not only is a supermarket’s engagement with the plastic bag issue essential but also the customers’ lifestyle and consciousness of their environment.
Survey result: 74 people, 62 plastic bags: 13 green bags, 19 own bags.
April 5, Mount Gambier
We finished our journey with a trip to South Australia, starting with Mount Gambier, near the border of Victoria and South Australia. Just as we were shocked when we arrived in Australia, we were even more shocked when we discovered that the South Australian Government is banning the supply of lightweight checkout-style plastic shopping bags from May 4, 2009! As we walked towards the entrance of the local Woolworths we noticed right away that the customers will not need a lot of time to cope with their new situation: they were all carrying green bags! We have never seen so many. Once inside, we saw a big board on the wall, which showed alternatives to green bags. (Woolworths even sells in South Australia a little packet with 10 reusable shopping bags inside.) In the centre of this board hung a sign saying: “Keep SA beautiful!” And even before the ban started, the fast-lane checkouts were totally free of plastic bags. And two of the other seven checkouts were not handing them out. Instead, they had a plastic bag with a big red cross and a sign: “Plastic bag-free checkout.” When we bought our groceries we also discovered small green key-holders that also reminded shoppers to take reusable bags to the supermarket. It was also the first time on our research trip that more green bags than plastic bags were bought and that there were even more green bags than customers.
Imke Emmerich and Laura Schneider are postgraduate students from the University of Hamburg, where they are undertaking a Master of Media Studies. They carried out their research while on an internship at the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism.
