06/13/08 Concerning the Legal Prohibition of Selling Plastic Bags
Croatian Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction
Mr. Nikola Ruzinski, state secretary for environmental protection
Republike Austrije 14
10000 ZAGREB
June 13, 2008
Dear Mr. Ruzinski,
We are writing to you concerning the proposal for refunding plastic bags, which is currently under consideration.
We believe that such a way of disposing of plastic bags would neither decrease their production nor solve the ecological problem that they are causing.
The Research Agency for Environmental Protection at Worldwatch Institute in Washington has published some disconcerting data: more than 500 billion plastic bags are distributed annually, which can by no means be adequately solved by refunding and recycling this dangerous waste.
It is extremely important that their distribution should be completely prohibited in order to set a clear sign to the citizens that their use of plastic bags is unacceptable. Plastic needs an exceptionally long period of time to dissolve in nature and thus presents a huge danger to animals, who tend to mistake plastic bags for food and eat large amounts of them, after which they die in agony because of hunger and constipation.
It should also be noted that the production of plastic bags requires large amounts of water and oil, which causes an even greater devastation and unnecessary exploitation of already scarce natural resources.
The Chinese government has issued a regulation that prohibits the production and distribution of plastic bags, while citizens of Modbury, a town in southwest England, have voluntarily agreed that they would ban the use of plastic bags and offer only paper and textile bags in their shops. San Francisco has also prohibited the distribution of plastic bags in retail stores. Similar decisions have been made in other parts of the world, such as South Africa, Ireland, and Taiwan, which have introduced fines for those who use such non-ecological bags.
We sincerely hope that our proposal will be accepted and that you will reconsider the possibility of prohibiting the distribution and sale of plastic bags altogether, for the benefit of the animals, our environment, and all citizens of Croatia.
Please do not hesitate to contact us with further suggestions. We are willing to offer all possible help in formulating the regulation.
With best regards,
Luka Oman
President of Animal Friends
