Well, I questioned whether it's a Western phenomenon. I'm not trying to bash the U.S. I like being a citizen. I was actually trying to make an analogy to diet, health and medicine, where Western lifestyles have traditionally been found to be inferior to Eastern ones, because we, on average, eat crappy food, get diseases, then spend a bunch of money trying to fix the symptoms of those diseases.
It's hardly a western problem. I've been to Hong Kong and Taiwan, and they have just as many plastic bags as we ("The West") do, if not more. And they're just as concerned about them as we are.
I just got back from HK, and while I was there I saw a bunch of advertisements warning that many stores will start charging HK$0.50 for plastic bags if you don't bring your own bag. Seems like a good move.
South Australia has banned most plastic bags now and we're Western. When I see someone calling something a Western problem I typically think they are the sort of person who decries Western culture but still indulges in its benefits. That or an angry third-world dictator.
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Well, I questioned whether it's a Western phenomenon. I'm not trying to bash the U.S. I like being a citizen. I was actually trying to make an analogy to diet, health and medicine, where Western lifestyles have traditionally been found to be inferior to Eastern ones, because we, on average, eat crappy food, get diseases, then spend a bunch of money trying to fix the symptoms of those diseases.
It's hardly a western problem. I've been to Hong Kong and Taiwan, and they have just as many plastic bags as we ("The West") do, if not more. And they're just as concerned about them as we are.
I just got back from HK, and while I was there I saw a bunch of advertisements warning that many stores will start charging HK$0.50 for plastic bags if you don't bring your own bag. Seems like a good move.
South Australia has banned most plastic bags now and we're Western. When I see someone calling something a Western problem I typically think they are the sort of person who decries Western culture but still indulges in its benefits. That or an angry third-world dictator.
When I was in Western Africa, I got a plastic bag for practically every single purchase I made, even in rural markets.
Yes, I'd prefer Eastern medicine, where I get diagnosed as chi-deficient and treated with the powdered testicles of some rare animal.
I'm only partly joking.