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China is taking action to curb¹ plastic bag litter. Soon, free shopping bags will be a thing of the past.

中国正在采取行动减少遍地是塑料袋垃圾的现象。不久，免费提供购物袋的现象将会成为历史。

Starting June 1, shoppers in China will have to pay for plastic bags. Under new government rules, the production of ultra-thin bags will be banned and their use in supermarkets forbidden. Shops can still use more durable² plastic bags, but will be required to charge shoppers for them.

从6月1号开始，中国的购物者必须花钱买塑料袋。政府出台的新规定禁止生产超薄的塑料袋，也禁止在超市里使用这种塑料袋。商店仍然可以使用耐用的塑料袋，但是必须要求购物者花钱买。

A government Web site is calling on shoppers to turn to cloth bags and shopping baskets to reduce the use of plastic.

政府的网站呼吁购物者转而使用布袋和购物筐，以减少对塑料袋的使用。

Chinese consumers have gotten used to free plastic shopping bags since they were introduced in the country a little more than a decade ago. They now use an enormous number - about 3 billion bags on average a day - which are later taking up landfills, clogging³ waterways and creating litter.

自从中国在10多年前开始使用塑料购物袋以来，中国消费者已经习惯了商店免费提供塑料袋的情况。他们现在使用极多的塑料袋，每天平均使用大约30亿个。这些塑料袋充斥着垃圾场，阻塞了河道，污染了环境。

Environmental groups welcome the new measures. Yu Xin, a spokesman⁴ for Greenpeace in Beijing, says what is particularly positive is that they involve public participation⁵. He says people suffer from China's huge environmental problems every day, from dirty air to tainted⁶ drinking water, but they often do not realize that they can help reduce the problem.

环保团体对这些新措施表示欢迎。绿色和平组织北京分部的发言人虞鑫说，这些措施需要公众的参与，这特别具有积极意义。他说，人们每天都要忍受中国巨大的环境问题，从肮脏的空气到受到污染的饮用水，但是他们经常没有认识到自己可以协助减轻这个问题。

"This is going to be challenging people to change their lifestyle a little bit in during their daily life," he said. "For example they can start with stop using plastic bags, use less disposable chopsticks, or they can change to energy-efficient light bulbs and they can go [on] more public transportation and so on. So we think the thing is positive news."

虞鑫说：“这将要求人们在他们每天的生活中改变一点自己的生活方式。比如，他们可以开始停止使用塑料袋，较少地使用一次性筷子，或是改用有效使用能源的灯泡；他们可以更多地使用公共交通工具，等等。所以，我们认为这是个好消息。”

Only a handful of governments in the world have banned free plastic bags. In Asia, Taiwan and Bangladesh have imposed⁷ bans. And Hong Kong and Australia are considering measures to curb plastic bag litter.

世界上只有为数不多的几个国家和地区的政府禁止使用塑料袋。在亚洲，台湾和孟加拉国实施了这一禁令。香港和澳大利亚正在考虑采取措施来减少塑料袋对环境的污染。