Some of Australia’s supermarkets are discovering that going green isn’t easy.

The union that represents retail workers is reporting that dozens of supermarket staff have suffered abuse from customers over attempts to ban single-use plastic bags. One worker was reportedly grabbed by the throat.

The Shop, Distributive, and Allied Employees Association released an ad campaign aimed at protecting supermarket workers entitled “Don’t bag retail staff.”

Most Australian states and territories have banned retail stores from using single-use plastic bags to reduce waste and the impact on the environment.

"We are talking in the magnitude of billions if we are looking on a global level,” said Boomerang Alliance Deputy Director Jayne Paramor.

“The numbers are enormous and you see it every day when you are wandering around the streets: bags floating on the footpath and in parks, stuck in trees and all over the place like that. I’m not sure we can even quantify the number given that we don’t even know the number being handed out by retailers.”

While most people we talked to said they were supportive of the bag ban, some said that it did come with drawbacks.

“The only problem I have with it is that I’ve got to buy plastic bags to line my bins because I used to reuse the old bags to line the bins,” said one woman.

Consumer complaints forced one supermarket chain to backtrack on charging customers 15 Australian cents for reusable plastic bags, and instead offered them for free for a limited time.

“While we have had a few people in supermarkets abusing checkout staff because they can’t get their free plastic bags,” said Paramor, “the polling that we are seeing coming out from the broader public is suggesting that they are very much behind having these bans put into place and are willing to make the changes to do the right thing.” 

(Cover image: Shoppers at the checkout in an Australian supermarket that has stopped using plastic bags. /CGTN Photo)