Ireland has successfully banned the free distribution and reduced the overall use of plastic bags in businesses throughout the country.
Weeks after Ireland began charging a tax in 2002, which is now 33 cents per plastic bag at the checkout in shopping centers, the total use of them fell 94 percent, the International Herald Tribune reported Friday.
"There's been a huge turnaround on this issue and I think with in the next 12 months, companies that want to be seen as leaders in the environment -- like Wal-Mart and Home Depot -- will be offering reusable options," reusablebags.com founder Vincent Cobb told the International Herald Tribune.
All of the plastic bag tax money in Ireland is given to the Environment Ministry for environment improvement and enforcement projects.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
Related stories:
Opposition to plastic grocery bags grows
Opposition to the use of plastic grocery bags is increasing across the United State and most particularly in California, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Jules Verne prepares for ISS departure
(PhysOrg.com) -- In just a few days time, the historical Jules Verne mission will draw to an end. After the ATV Control Centre commands the opening of the Automated Transfer Vehicle hooks, ESA's first resupply and reboost vehicle will perform a fully automated undocking with the International Space Station on 5 September at 23:30 CEST (21:30 UT).
Border Patrol also guards against foreign bugs
(AP) -- Alishia Beckham is on the front lines defending the United States from foreign invaders - armed with weapons that include a hand mirror and a flashlight.
Americans adopting HIV-positive kids from Ethiopia
(AP) -- Solomon Henderson inherited just three things from his birth parents, who left him at an Ethiopian orphanage when he was 1 year old: a picture of Jesus, a plastic crucifix and HIV.
Flexible nanoantenna arrays capture abundant solar energy
Researchers have devised an inexpensive way to produce plastic sheets containing billions of nanoantennas that collect heat energy generated by the sun and other sources. The technology, developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory, is the first step toward a solar energy collector that could be mass-produced on flexible materials.
Study Shows Promise for Item-Level Use of RFID in Retail Environment
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study by the RFID Research Center at the University of Arkansas shows further promise for the use of radio-frequency identification tags on individual retail items. Researchers tested three popular retail scenarios, and the technology yielded read-rate percentages at or near 100 percent with one or more combinations of tags and readers. The results are encouraging for managers looking for better methods of tracking and managing inventory through all phases of a retail operation, including point of sale.
Scientists announce mouse sperm cryopreservation breakthrough
A team of Jackson Laboratory scientists have figured out a simple, cost-effective process to freeze mouse sperm and get it to achieve high fertilization rates with mouse eggs. The breakthrough will greatly reduce the cost of developing and distributing new mouse models of human disease.
Bottled water debate hits a boiling point
A debate over water is boiling over in the United States and elsewhere amid growing environmental concerns about bottled water and questions about safety of tap water.