Global

Global Efforts
There are dozens of communities and countries banning single use plastic bags. Check them all out by clicking here -
Track the Movement

Fort McMurray  Greg Halinda Photography

  • France  2016
  • European Union by 2019
  • Santa Monica, U.S.A. BanSupermarkets, convenience stores, liquor stores, pharmacies are all banned from distributing single use plastic bags, March 9, 2011
  • Brownsville Texas Ban Ban on plastic shopping bags at point of sale, Jan. 1, 2011
  • San Francisco 2012
  • Italy Jan. 1, 2011   Italy banned the plastic ban throughout the whole country.

  • Bangladesh In 2002, Bangladesh banned polyethylene bags in the capital Dhaka after they clogged drains in the 1988 and 1998 floods.
  • South Africa In 2003, South Africa banned thin plastic bags. Wangari Mathaai, the 2005 Nobel peace prize winner, linked plastic bag littler with malaria. When thrown out, the bags fill with rainwater, which make breeding grounds for malaria carrying mosquitoes. 

  • Zanzibar banned plastic bags in 2006 due to the harm of discarded bags on the ocean environment and its  tourism industry.
  • Kenya and Uganda in 2007 banned the use of thin plastic bags in an effort to curb environmental damage, as of 2007.   
  • Tanzania 2013 
  • India In 2003 and 2005, the plastic bag was banned in in many states. Plastic bags blocked sewage and drainage systems during record monsoon rains. As a result, flooding and landslides killed more than 1,000 people in the state.

  • Buying reusables. Greg Halinda Photography

  • China  2008 saw China's State Council put a nationwide ban on plastic bags. According to the Daily Mail, China uses more plastic bags than any other country. 37 million barrels of crude oil are used to produce China's annual supply of plastic bags. China's population of 1.3 billion people use 3 billion, and dispose of 3 million tonnes of plastic bags each year.
  • Edmonton considering ban
  • More information:
    Clean Up Australia Report