Over the past decade, a remarkable number of local, sub-national and national
governments have passed legislation to ban or severely restrict the use of plastic
shopping bags. Legislation against plastic bags has occurred at a number of
jurisdictional levels, from villages and cities, to states and entire countries.
Together these various regulatory movements reflect a significant shift in the
international norms associated with disposable plastic bags. Plastic shopping
bags are increasingly seen as environmental hazards that threaten human and
animal welfare, rather than benign modern conveniences. The emergence
around the world of an anti-plastic bag norm has been rapid and widespread.
Although the norm has been adopted widely, the way in which it has been
translated into policy has varied.