The Bag Debate

By Laura Yates on Nov 4, 08 08:03 PM

It's not that I don't think swapping coal power stations for wind turbines and excluding all but the very richest of the population from travelling by plane are great ideas to save the planet, but unless we change hearts and minds about the little things in life then, quite frankly, we're all doomed.

I'm a firm believer in recycling. Honestly, if it sits still for two minutes in my house it gets rinsed, sorted, recycled or composted. (The Moll has had a lucky escape on several occasions.) I invest my time doing this, not because I think my tiny actions will ultimately save the world, not even because it pees off royally the likes of Jeremy Clarkson, (which is an added bonus I must admit) but because I have a deep-rooted appreciation that things we use don't just disappear when we put them in the bin.

Like carrier bags - I don't think paying for them is a good idea because it will be the deciding factor in saving our planet, I think it's a good idea because it makes people think about whether they actually really want one. They epitomise our consumer frame of mind, desperately needed and loved for such a short time, then discarded as if it were, well, a crappy old carrier bag.

I'm not perfect. (no, honestly). I do use plastic bags very occasionally, at times when I simply can't be bothered to go home first to get my own. The vast majority of the time I cling rigidly to my jute clad bags for life, but every now and again, I just don't. Now, should my supermarket of choice decide it's going to charge me 5 of the queen's finest pence to make this decision, then I expect I would make more of an effort to arm myself with appropriate baggage whenever necessary.

If you ever want to know what happens to these plastic bags, come and stand around the mean streets down the back of Kings Heath; they roll by like the proverbial tumble weed after a bad joke. (or cliché for that matter.)

Small change in the environment stakes they may be, but as long as we're finding bigger culprits to point the finger at we're not taking responsibility for our own actions.

So as prestige cars are driven mile after mile, (because if it's good enough for Prescott, it's good enough for us), and millions of televisions are left on standby because it's a mere drop in the ocean compared to all the energy expended in Blackpool then so endeth the planet, one carrier bag at a time.