Canberrans, like Californians, are often willing to give things a go that would be dismissed out of hand in more socially conservative states and territories.

High-profile examples have included our highly ambitious, though admittedly problematic, attempt to build Australia's first "human-rights compliant" prison, the ban on single-use plastic bags introduced in 2011, pill testing at music festivals and the setting of the 100 per cent renewable energy target.

While we haven't always managed to get it right, the fact such attempts are made is, of itself, significant given the role they play in raising public awareness.

There is much to be said for the government's willingness to treat the ACT as a social laboratory and an example to other jurisdictions that ambitious changes can be achieved.

The latest initiative, following on from the plastic bag ban now being implemented by major supermarket chains on a national scale, is a crackdown on many more single-use plastics.

This makes sense given recent reports of marine creatures being found with hundreds of kilograms of plastic waste clogging their stomachs and the news that what appeared to be a plastic shopping bag and some chocolate wrappers were spotted at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

It is a given some die-hard opponents of the original single-use plastic bag ban will argue against a further crackdown on our longest-lasting contribution to environmental degradation on the basis ACT plastic bag usage is now nudging pre-ban levels.

Such criticisms need to be taken with a grain of salt, given that when the ban was legislated nine years ago Canberra's population was 358,222. It has risen by almost 15 per cent since then to more than 403,000.

With Canberrans sending 953 tonnes of plastic to landfill in 2017-18 compared to 973 tonnes in 2010-11, per capita usage is significantly down.

Professor Kate Auty, the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment, has credited the ban with stopping 1132 tonnes of plastic going into landfill with a reduction of 55 million bags in just one 12-month period alone.

That is a fantastic achievement and one that more than justifies the efforts made by Canberra retailers and consumers since 2011.

It is also an excellent basis on which to proceed to the next logical step; to review our dependence on other single-use plastic items such as lightweight plastic fruit and vegetable bags.

The ACT government is exploring a wide range of possible options through surveys and other forms of community consultation.

Comprehensive consultation is, of course, the key to making innovative reforms such as these work.

Unless the legislators are able to get the consumers and the retailers - especially the big supermarket chains - on board, then nothing can be achieved.

Like the original single-use plastic ban, any measure will need to be cost-effective, practical and simple to implement.

The last thing we want is new impost on the cost of food that penalises those at the lowest end of the income scale.