Consumer habits need to change more fundamentally to be truly eco-friendly

FIRST it was supermarket bags. Then it was disposable straws. The tide of sentiment continues to turn against single-use plastics, as consumer awareness grows about their environmental impact - most visibly on marine ecosystems - and some governments take the lead with bans and legislation.

Yet this green wave has also met backlash and scepticism. One complaint in Singapore and elsewhere is that supermarket bags are needed for bagging trash; without them, consumers might make the costly and counterproductive switch to buying bin liners.

Others argue that eradicating plastic straws would be a drop in ocean-cleaning efforts, as they account for less than 1 per cent of the estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic entering oceans each year.