There is an old saying I repeat when a problem is so big it is overwhelming. It goes: "How do you eat an elephant?" Answer is "One bite at a time." So how do we deal with the 500 billion to a trillion plastic bags that are used each year by consumers? We know they are bad for the environment.

Starting June 1, the Chinese government's country-wide plan to make shoppers pay small fees for plastic bags, and to forbid the production of ultra-thin bags will take effect. The move should save China 37 million barrels of oil a year. NGOs have been into the act earlier, pushing for relief from the ubiquitous plastic bag — Chinese use over 3 billion such bags every day.

You won’t be given a plastic bag from Ontario liquor stores any more. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario has banned plastic bags at all of its retail stores.

Retailers may be fined up to 10,000 yuan (1,430 U.S. dollars) for providing free plastic bags to shoppers, the Ministry of Commerce has proposed.

The People's Republic of China has banned free plastic shopping bags in a move to take effect from June 1, 2008. The decision made by the Chinese Cabinet, the State Council, is intended to reduce the amount of plastic bags used in China, currently being estimated at three billion per day.

Packaging that lets you see a food product may make you feel better as a consumer, but it is not good for the food. New ideas for plastics may help remedy that problem. Research by Virginia Tech food scientists has provided significant evidence that visible wavelengths of light cause taste and odor changes of food.

Diamant Art Corporation (OTCBB: DIAAF) is pleased to announce that its line of environmentally conscious bio-degradable plastic wrap, bio-products and food films meet the demands of the proposed plastic bag ban in San Francisco.