There is no single solution to the problem of white pollution and it needs the involvement of every one of us, says an article in People's Daily. The following is an excerpt.

Starting from June 1, plastic bags at all retailing outlets will not be given free of charge. In the months to come, Beijing will distribute 18 million environment friendly shopping bags for free.

The daily consumption of plastic bags is 3 billion, therefore 18 million is far from enough. Moreover, free distribution is not a long-term strategy. Much more needs to be done before we can really eradicate white pollution.

Recently, two items of news were interestingly related. One was the State Council's circular to curb the production, sales and usage of plastic bags. Starting from June 1, plastic bags with a thickness less than 0.025 mm will be banned from being produced, sold and used nationwide, and all retailing outlets in China must charge for their use.

The other is about 56 baskets and 3,000 handkerchiefs presented by Chen Fei, a deputy to the NPC from Zhejiang province, to other deputies. This farmer, through his own efforts, has made his village the first in the country to ban the use of plastic bags, and has traveled around the country promoting the elimination of white pollution.

The first, is a hard regulation that requires customers to reduce their usage of plastic bags based on fees. The second, encourages and motivates more people to participate in environmental protection. These two endeavors will have far-reaching influence.

But these efforts are probably still not enough. Statistics show that more than 3 million tons of plastic waste is discarded by people every year. The economic loss caused by environmental pollution keeps rising each year. It was more than 10 percent of China's GDP in 2006.

So we can see that we have much more to do before we can be free of white pollution. A single effort is not enough, the answer is a combination of efforts.

(China Daily 05/17/2008 page9)