More than 90 percent of people support the nation's restriction on plastic bags, but some are still relying on plastic bags in their daily life, according to a recent survey conducted on the Internet.

The survey carried out by mytianhui.com, a local online survey company, sampled 40,000 Netizens on the plastic bag restriction. It found 93 percent supported the restriction and only 2 percent were opposed to the policy. The remaining 5 percent said they didn't care.

In January, China announced that the manufacture and free distribution of thin plastic bags was to be banned. The restriction came into effect on June 1.

Shops have been banned from giving away plastic bags which means shoppers either have to take their own bags to markets or pay for bags to carry their goods.

The survey found 95 percent of the correspondents agreed plastic bags destroyed the environment and 93 percent thought the restriction would help reduce white pollution.

The survey found the restriction had caused many people to use non-plastic shopping bags but some people had not changed their habits since the implementation of the policy.

Before the restriction was carried out, 57 percent of those surveyed said they used plastic bags provided by the supermarkets and stores free of charge. It found 18 percent took their own plastic bags, and 25 percent said they used non-plastic bags.

After the restriction was issued, 46 percent of the correspondents said they used non-plastic bags and 43 percent carried plastic bags themselves. But 18 percent said the restriction made no difference.

''It is too difficult to change a long-term habit,'' said Wang Ling, a Shanghai housewife. ''I always forget to bring bags with me when I go to the supermarket and have to buy a few plastic bags. The bag isn't expensive, anyway.''

Some local people also complained that some retailers and restaurants used the restriction as a way of earning money.

''Some restaurants had offered environmentally friendly boxes free of charge for diners to take home leftover dishes before the restriction. But after the restriction started, they began to charge for the boxes in the name of protecting environment,'' said Qian Yifeng, a local white-collar.

The surveyed Netizens said they thought the successful implementation of the restriction was being affected by too few substitutes for plastic bags, weak enforcement of the policy, a lack of cooperation from some companies, and too much opposition from people who felt that the change was inconvenient.

(Shanghai Daily December 1, 2008)