The environmental youth organization Go Green organized the campaign “No plastic on the market” at the Green Market and the Bunjevec market in Skopje, in order to raise awareness among the citizens about the negative effects of the plastic environment and the health of the people. With an inadequate management system with waste they end up at landfills that in many cases ignite. With the thousands of plastic bags that are used, they are one of the biggest air and soil pollutants, but also the cause of death for many animals.

During the action, more than 100 customer’s shopping bags were distributed in order to encourage them to eject the plastic from their use. Paid bags are a great substitute for plastic, they are durable and most importantly – reusable, so the next time we would not have to buy a new bag.

One of the measures used anywhere in the world for reduced use of plastic is paying for them in stores, supermarkets and markets. The introduction of a payment for plastic bags measure in England contributed to reducing their use from 7 million to 500 thousand a year.[1]

Go Green will continue to influence the raising of awareness about the harmfulness of plastic bags and will support all measures that will reduce their use. The action is part of the European Week for Waste Reduction, which is held from 20-26 November.


The total number of plastic bags produced annually in the world is 1 trillion, or 2 million per minute.


An average family uses up to 600 bags a year. You are probably also a part of a large number of people who are constantly taking too many plastic bags for every small grocer, and then end up with a bag of a million smaller ones in it. Most often we do not think that in fact these bags will be decomposed after 1000 years. In fact, the first produced bags are still not close to decomposition, and we continue to produce more of them.

Although there are plastic bags that are biodegradable, they are almost never recycled. They usually end up at landfills where they burn, releasing toxic gases or ending in soil that later pollutes all organisms that are in it. Most often, the plastic is small in smaller pieces that move through the space. Their spread through space often ends up in oceans and seas, which contributes to the death of more than 100 thousand dolphins, turtles, seabirds and whales. Even when the animal dies due to plastic and it will decompose, plastic does not decompose and continues to pollute.

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[1]https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/30/england-plastic-bag-usage-drops-85-per-cent-since-5p-charged-introduced