Nations make the plastic bag a public enemy

Here are some of the ways places across the world are striving to lower the use of plastic bags:

U.S. steps

In March, San Francisco became the first city to ban common plastic shopping bags, and at least 30 villages and towns in Alaska have followed suit.

The New York City Council was set to vote Wednesday on a measure that would require large stores to recycle plastic bags.

The Pacific Protection Initiative, an effort launched in California to address problems of plastic marine debris, reports the following cities in the U.S. are also considering fees or outright bans of plastic bags: Austin, Texas; Bakersfield, Calif.; Boston; New Haven, Conn.; Portland, Ore.; Phoenix; and Annapolis, Md.

Canada first

In Leaf Rapids, Manitoba -- the first municipality in all of North America to propose, pass and adopt a law forbidding the use of plastic bags by shops -- it's either paper or cloth.

The chief administrative officer of the town of about 550 people, Martin Van Osch, said "compliance has been universal" since the law took effect in April 2007. The law calls for fines of as much as 1,000 Canadian dollars, though no one has yet received one, Van Osch said.

Banned in Africa

Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania's Zanzibar islands have banned the flimsy plastic bags that float through the air, introducing minimum thickness requirements. Many independent supermarkets in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, now charge a small fee for each plastic bag but also give away a free, reusable basket with a minimum purchase.

German fees

For a fee, most stores provide German consumers with the option of a plastic bag or a canvas- or cotton-made tote. Plastic bags, depending on their size, range from 7 cents to as much as 74 cents. Canvas or cloth bags can be had for about $1.47. Many German consumers carry their own bags when shopping, and it's not uncommon to see some using wicker baskets or wheeled carts. And regardless of whether customers use plastic bags, all stores that offer them have to pay a recycling fee.

Irish bag levy

In March 2003, Ireland introduced a 22-cent levy on every plastic shopping bag. That, the government said, resulted in a big drop in the number of bags stores were handing out. Some switched to paper bags, others stopped handing out bags completely. In July 2007, Ireland raised the fee to 32 cents, which further reduced their use.

It's local in Britain

There is no national policy regarding plastic bags in Britain. Instead, it has been left up to towns and stores themselves. Shopkeepers in the English town of Modbury, which has 1,500 residents, eliminated disposable plastic bags altogether, while some of the country's big grocery chains have offered customers money-saving incentives to reuse old bags.

Swedish green

The government is encouraging plastic bag producers to continually develop greener bags, and two of the Nordic country's biggest grocery chains -- ICA and Coop Konsum -- have made biodegradable paper bags and reusable cloth bags available to shoppers. Last month, ICA started issuing a plastic bag that biodegrades and Coop plans a similar one next month.