"The Outer Banks is set to become the first community on the East Coast to banish those wispy plastic bags. Gov. Bev Perdue is expected to sign the bill that bans large local retailers from using the ubiquitous bags, spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said Tuesday. The state Senate passed the bill 44-2 on Monday.

As from June 1, Altesa Supermarkets started charging for their biodegradable plastic bags at one céntimo each. On its' sales ticket it says "Help protect our Islands. Everyone for the environment." also referring clients to a website referring to degradable plastics.

Larry's Environmental Issues Blog
By Larry West,
About.com Guide to Environmental Issues since 2005

China Plastic Bag Ban Shows Strong Results After First Year
Monday June 1, 2009

From July 1, 2007, the government passed a law that stated that the manufacture, import and use of plastic bags thinner than 30 microns will be banned. All other polythene will be subject to a 120% tax.

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.

As of July 7, 2009, some 2,000 retail stores in Hong Kong will start charging HKD0.5 for each plastic bag provided to consumers.

The government plans to register retailers covered by the regulations; and these retailers include supermarkets, convenience stores, and personal care products shops.

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.