ONE PLASTIC

Happy New Year! First of all, an apology once again for sporadic posts. I've been touring Fiji for the past month or so. My goodness this country is absolutely stunning!

Anyway, I was on a round tour of Samabula on a mission to buy bread and milk this morning for breakfast. Whilst doing my milk/break run, I came up with some inspiration about this next topic.

So in Australia, we've been brought to obsession with the "green bag". Plastic bags have become a mortal sin and the person who requests for more is whole heartedly deserving of a deathly scowl. Check out assistants are trained to refuse or limit their use of plastic bags, while some companies have decided to charge money for the use of the wretched inventions. Such is the national mission to save your plastic bags, save the world. Towards a greener environment. Stop killing the dolphins. And all that...

Not in Fiji.

In Fiji, there seems to be an obsession with "plastic". You say "plastic bag" here and everyone looks at you with a raised eyebrow, or in most cases, two raised eyebrows (this one being the "I-know-you-said-something-but-I-have-no-idea-what-you're-talking-about" eyebrow raise). So now, I bring you the top 5 personal examples of plastic bag usage in Fiji:

IN FIFTH POSITION..........

SUVA MARKET:
Onions and potatoes, along with other amazing Indian spices and kava, are sold in the upper level of the market in Suva. I came here the other day to buy a bag of onions and a bag of potatoes. I purchased both of these items from one stall. The onions went in one bag, the potatoes in another which to me, is logical.

THEN both bags went into a third plastic bag.

IN FOURTH POSITION...........

Cost-U-Less:
The overseas import store where you can get everything from tofu to olives, cheaper chocolate and storage solutions. Kind of like cost-co or some other bulk-buy import store. I purchased tofu and washing powder.

At the checkout, the tofu went into one bag, and the washing powder in another separate bag.

IN THIRD POSITION.............

Supermarket in Nadi:
I purchased 2 packets of biscuits, a carton of UHT milk and a small bottle of sprite. I was expecting all of the aforementioned items to be placed into one bag, and maybe the sprite left out for immediate consumption.

I received: one bag for 2 biscuits, one bag for the milk and one bag for the sprite.

IN SECOND POSITION.............

The bookshop near the bus station in Suva:
I purchased a ball of twine. One single ball of twine. I had my Aussie green shopping bags with me at the time. Thinking ahead at the register, I told the lady "no plastic" whilst handing her over the twine and the cash. She responded with an eyebrow raise. She processed the transaction and I watched as her hand reached towards the pile of plastic bags on the counter. I repeated: "NO plastic". She looked at me and replied, "Yes, you have one plastic" and handed me my single ball of twine in a plastic bag along with my change.

BUT this one, in my opinion, takes the cake.

FIRST POSITION:

I went to buy some milk. Just milk. Nothing else. I did have a loaf of bread with me, but that was from a different shop. I placed the milk on the counter with the money. The transaction was processed and I took my milk and change and proceeded to walk out of the shop. I don't think I looked unbalanced or like I was struggling with my minimal shopping. However, as I proceeded to exit the shop, and in fact I was probably outside the shop at this point, the shop lady called out after me: "Excuse me, Ma'am! You have one plastic?!"