Often seen as a progressive city, San Francisco took the initiative in 2007 to ban plastic bags from large supermarkets and chain pharmacies in the city and county of San Francisco.

In 2005, Rwanda banned plastic bags less than 100 microns thick and backed this up with public awareness campaigns.

The black plastic bag has disappeared from the capital of Kigali. Additionally, in 2004, thousands of people were encouraged to take the day off work to help pick up some of the plastic bags which littered the country.

10 December 2006

The city of Paris has decided to ban non-biodegradable plastic bags in large stores as of 2007, in an effort to cut down on pollution.

The City of Lights is hardly the first to tackle its plastic woes. From Paris, Lisa Bryant reports for VOA that from Ireland to South Africa, the throwaway bag is heading for the dustbin - of history.

In January 2008, New York City passed a bill requiring that large retailers and chain shops using plastic bags recycle them for consumers.

Currently, New Yorkers are using 1 billion bags per year. Having convenient recycling facilities will greatly help cut down on the waste and litter from all those bags.

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The City of New Delhi, India has taken a different approach to banning plastic bags.

In a new law passed in January 2009, Delhi has made it illegal for citizens to carry plastic bags or use them for waste. If you are caught carrying a plastic bag, you could be jailed or fined.

Much of the focus of this blog has been about cities around the world. What about a city closer to home - what about closer to your home?

The country of Bhutan first introduced a plastic bag ban in 1999.

This ban was further reinforced in 2005. Due to the difficulty in implementing the ban, the country reintroduced the ban again in May 2009.

In Bangladesh, plastic bags have been banned completely since early 2002.

Bangladesh discovered that plastic bags were choking the countries drainage system, which led to widespread flooding throughout the country in 1988 and 1998.