I think we've had a discussion about plastic bags on HP before now but I've just read the article in the Independent here.
British shops hand out a staggering 13 billion every year. But after a decision by 33 London councils yesterday, plastic bags could be soon be consigned to history, unmourned by anyone who cares about cleaning up the environment.
Eighty villages, towns and cities, including Brighton and Bath, have introduced or are considering a ban on them since shops in the Devon market town of Modbury went "plastic bag- free". But yesterday represented the most significant move yet. The capital is now on board.
I was very cheered until I got to the paragraph that says:
the London ban could take years to come into force
Still, it looks as though we're moving in the right direction. So three cheers from me!
Lots of love
Sunanda xxx
I lot (but not all) of the plastic bags used by supermarkets today actually degenerate and are bio-degradable so do we really need to do this or can we just insist that ALL plastic bags are biodegradable instead?
There is an interesting counter agruments here:
http://www.leamingtoncourier.co.uk/letters-to-the-editor/Banning-plastic-bags-is-not.3374192.jp
http://www.computing.co.uk/business-green/comment/2200303/why-plastic-bag-bans-bad-news
Thanks for the links, Jason. I can see the point in the first one: if totally degradable plastic is available, then by all means bring it on. I don't think that per se this is an argument for not banning non-degradable plastic bags though. The author of the second link (which I must admit I merely skimmed) seems to be to be saying that local legislation, as opposed to national or global legislation, makes things difficult for multi-national companies and big businesses on the whole. Sorry if I've got that wrong but my immediate reaction is that this hardly constitutes an argument against the banning of plastic bags. Surely these huge businesses, such as Tescos, could afford to take a small drop in their considerable profits. I have no sympathy for them.
Love
Sunanda xxx
Hey I agree with you that we should enforce totally degradable bags but a total ban including degradable is a bit too demonstrative of the current government and their nanny state attitude.
If they are going to ban plastic bags, could they please include disposable nappies? The bags are estimated to take about 200 years to dissolve - nappies out-time that by a further 300 years.......