BYOBD

In case the abbreviation sounds unfamiliar, it actually means Bring Your Own Bag Day. It's an initiative driven by supermarkets in a bid to Save the Earth. Well, I'm all for it actually... I'm definitely one who advocates preservation of Mother Earth.

But what I have a problem with, is the restrained manner in which the BYOBD initiative was executed. I think one day a month is not aggressive enough. For a start, it'll be difficult for people to keep track of the day itself. Yes, first day of the month may sound easy enough... but to the busy professional, it's already difficult enough trying to keep track the day of the week and... I'm sure there is a significant number of folks out there who don't mind paying that little bit extra, for the convenience of not having to come back on a non-BYOB Day. At this rate, we'll never send the right message to the masses. Our message should be: "Bring your own bag, so that it will save on overheads in the long run, and also you get to Save the Earth at the same time". How do we do that? Now hear me out.....

My suggestion: Let's do it the other way round. Instead of only making them pay for plastic bags on the first day of the month, why not on top of that we give them a discount on every other day that they come to the supermarket with their own bag. It does not have to be a huge discount... I guess a rate of 20cents per bag will do just fine. The average shopper will need... maybe about 4 bags per visit(depending on total items purchased... the details can be worked out later)... Though that will add up to only 80cents, in the long it would be significant!

It makes a whole lot of sense. This will not only help to remind us to Save the Earth on a daily basis... it also sends the message across that; Helping to Save the Earth will, save us some money. I think this will be better received than their current campaign of having BYOBD once a month. Saving the Earth should be made a daily routine, and not a monthly one.

I can understand that the authorities are probably trying to lay it easy on the people. "Let them slowly get used to it first", they said. But I get the feeling that the only thing they will get used to is: paying for bags at the start of every month. If it's not that, then it'll be: avoid supermarkets on the 1st! I think this has got to be changed, if we are ever going to get anywhere with this initiative!

Changing people's attitude is always difficult, but we can always change the strategy that we use in convincing them.