I refer to the letter “Disposable Bag-a nudge towards adopting green habits” (March 16) by the National Environment Agency (NEA). It is commendable that action is being proactively taken to reduce disposable bag waste.

As I use supermarket bags to throw my trash, I would still have to buy garbage bags if I did not get them with my purchases.

The NEA letter stated that Singapore threw away “200,000 tonnes of disposables annually”, which I assume would include other non-reusable disposables like plastic utensils, styrofoam packaging, plastic containers and cling wrap.

Supermarkets are guilty of extensive use of packaging for their fresh produce and meats, and food centres use too many plastic utensils and takeaway containers. Perhaps we need to look deeper into the necessity of some of these practices.

A supermarket plastic bag is “reusable” in that it is reused to bag trash. We would still need a bag, free or otherwise, for our garbage.

Yeh Siew San