China Bans Plastic Bags

Look here for the full story from CNN. Honestly, I don't know what to think about this. Surely these bags can be reused or recycled in some way. I'm not sure a ban is a rational solution.

I guess this is not atypical as Uganda, South Africa, and San Francisco have similar bans. I get worried when governments decide to ban things instead of concentrating on educating the public to make environmentally friendly decisions.

[Update: As adam mentioned, China is only banning free plastic bags. Stores must now charge for any bags the costumers use a means to encourage them to use cloth bags. Sorry for the omitted word. It was an important one]