DUBAI: Oman’s environment agency is calling for a ban on plastic carrier bags in its push to improve the Sultanate’s environment.
Environment Society of Oman (ESO) spokeswoman, Yusra Jaffer, said that while plastic was not banned in Oman, the government was “working on that.”
“Recently, when Japan came up with the plastic (bag) ban, we put that up on our social media,” she explained. “We had a campaign back in 2008 — a no plastic bag campaign. A lot of the supermarkets had started providing the option of reusable bags and we gave away a number of jute bags to a lot of customers.”
She told Times of Oman that there had been a change in behavior, but she said there was more that needed to be done.
“It is really sad that a lot of the public places are littered so badly. Oman is a beautiful place and people come thousands of miles to see some of our species and the beauty that we have in Oman,” she added.
“Littering is a simple fix. Even if we see it from a religious point of view, our religion encourages people to keep our surrounding clean. That’s definitely one thing that we need to take responsibility for.”
Jaffer said she believed there needed to be a change in people’s mindsets when it comes to how they think of the environment.
She said a good way to achieve this would be for people to think about the environment as their homes.
“I don’t think anyone would like to litter our houses… Things like switching off electrical items that are not being used are very minor small behavior we can change in our day-to-day lives, which will impact in the long run. Turn the tap off while washing our hands.”
And the response from supermarkets about tackling the issue was largely positive, the newspaper added.
One supermarket manager said approximately 75,000 plastic bags were used every day in his branch alone.
“On an average we get around 15,000 visitors who take home around five bags each every day,” he said.
The manager said that he supported the idea of charging for carrier bags to reduce the amount used.
Another store manager said they were training their packing staff to minimize the amount of carrier bags they used.
Meanwhile a third store manager said they estimated that 20,000 bags were used each day in their 18 stores.
“Even though they are biodegradable, the move by the government to replace them is very good,” the manager said.
