Five Myths About Plastic Bags

When I posted about my disappointment with Alastair Darling’s plans for a plastic bag tax, all sorts of responses came in arguing that this was an excuse to introduce a tax; that plastic bags should be celebrated for their lightweight durability and that they are a necessary part of modern life. I’m afraid I don’t agree.

It’s easy to recycle them
That’s rubbish. Rarely collected by local authority kerbside collections (tell me if yours does, I’d love to know what it does with them), your best chance is to find a supermarket with a recycling bank for bags. But this is far from ideal. The UK lacks its own developed plastic recycling facilities so, like most of Europe, sends the majority of its plastics to China to be recycled over there, an arrangement which lead to a BBC Real Story scandal two years ago. It uncovered our plastic being piled into Chinese landfill rather than being recycled. The problem with the plastic used in bags is that it is low quality: cheap to make from new, but tricky and energy intensive to recycle. Look at most plastic items and you’ll see a triangle containing a number; the higher that number the harder the product is to recycle. PET, numbered one, is the best sort for recycling. Decent carrier bags are numbered four. The more lightweight variety can be as high as seven. For more info on these codes, see here.

They only take up a tiny proportion of landfill
Taking up landfill space has never been one of the main accusations levelled at plastic bags. That they are made from a non-renewable resource, yes. That each of us in the UK uses an average of 290 of them every year, definitely. Not to mention the impact they are having on the natural world - see here. But taking up landfill space is only a small concern. In fact, it is worrying itself that only an estimated third of the bags we use end up in landfill when we are getting through so many - 145 billion last time I looked here. Where are they if they’re not in landfill? As they can’t all be in your special plastic bag holder. Many seem to find their way to the sea. There has been debate recently about the extent to which plastic bags cause marine deaths. The plastic industry points out that many of the numbers quoted are based on estimates with little scientific support. What has clearly emerged from this debate is that plastic bags are only one kind of plastic that threatens animals, and probably not the worst. Damage done by solid lumps of plastic is even more serious.  Reports suggest that many birds can die because they ingest enough small lumps of plastic that their stomachs are filled with nothing else and they starve to death.

They don’t take long to breakdown
The fact is that no one knows precisely how long a plastic bag takes to disappear without digging one up every decade to see how it’s getting on. Few scientists have given a figure of less than 100 years; most estimate between 200 and 1,000 years, depending on whether the bag finds itself buried in a light and air deprived landfill site or up a tree, where sunlight will help to break it down. A few weeks ago, the Association of Plastic Manufacturers at the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, claimed that:
"They decompose within one and a half to two years because of ultraviolet
sunlight." I would love to know where that figure came from.

They require less energy to manufacture than paper bags
In part this is true, but paper bags are not the only alternative to plastic bags, and while they require more energy, they also come from a renewable resource. Paper bags made from fibres from sustainably managed forests, or even better, recycled paper are environmentally superior to an oil based product. It takes 430,000 gallons of oil to produce 100 million plastic bags, according to Worldwatch Institute. In short, paper may consume more resources to produce, but it is more recyclable than plastic, breaks down more easily and does not come from oil, a resource that we should be decreasing our reliance upon.

They are durable and reusable
True, it has been claimed by the plastic industry that a bag can be used 15 times to carry shopping before it falls apart. This is the theory, but how many of us do this? They have become a one-use disposable item because we know the shop will hand out more for free, next time we go. The ten billion bags handed out to British shoppers are used for an average of 12 minutes before they are discarded. A material bag that you paid for is more likely to accompany you to the shops countless times. In the wake of I’m Not a Plastic Bag fever, scores of bags have followed, made from every imaginable material – from jute, hemp and bamboo to corn starch, string, recycled paper and even banana leaves.

Yes, there is an energy cost in the production of these, but the idea is that this is negated if you use them enough times. And of course, the habit of using something time and time again - whether this is a bag, a cloth in the kitchen or an item of clothing - is simply good environmental practice.

Comments

[Abi]

Most of the supermarket bags I've seen recently barely survive the journey home, let alone '15 uses'. This is obviously a good thing if it encourages people to bring their own (what could be a better incentive than the free ones being useless?) but it's also a tremendous waste.

[Al Holland]

Anna
Chester City Council collects them for recycling. Here's what they do with them http://www.chester.gov.uk/council_services/refuse_and_recycling/household_refuse_and_recycling/recycling_schemes/recycling_process.aspx follow the link to reprocessors.

[Karen Melchior]

Plastic bags can be burnt, and the best ones don't produce hazardous fumes. You "just" have to make sure they don't end up in nature or in a landfill...

[JennyTom]

I shop every week and I can tell you that here in france the plastic bags that cost a few cents (none are free any more) last about five weeks or less before they start to disintigrate. The more UV they are exposed to the faster they disintigrate.

The ones I get in the UK (I'm over a great deal) seem to last longer but they also eventually rot.

Do you actually do any shopping Anna Sheperd or do you get the nanny to do it all for you and then just write this drivel to fill in space?

[Neil]

Loads of people use them to line a small kitchen bin. If they cost more we will just buy separate bin liners and it will be a waste of time! They are here to stay!

[Theo Nelson]

It's always been a source of irritation to me that the handles on plastic bags are on the ends instead of on the sides. Therefore I'm pleased to see the end of them...or is it the sides?

[Kevin O'Sullivan]

In Ireland there has been a tax for the last few years on plastic bags. The result - people remember to bring their own better quality bag (like the ones M&S sell for 50p) or just carry a few items or in emergencies they buy a bag. The latter case is very rare and the tax has been a great success. Before it came in there were lots of diehards complaining, as there are on this forum, but life moves on and people adapt.

[sarah H]

Some supermarkets here in the US have recycling bins for used bags and also offer low cost reusable bags, but so far few use them. I get funny looks, as if I were extremely eccentric, when I pull mine out. I believe a few more enlightened places in California have recently outlawed plastic bags entirely. What a good idea.

I have picked lots of the darn things up along the roadside in front of my farm over the years. I have noticed that the ones that seem to have been exposed to the elements the longest break down and almost shred as I try to pick them up. I end up having to pluck pieces of them out of bushes and long grasses one by one. Now, if only the bags would melt...

[CS]

So my wife nagged me into using the bag forever bags here in Australia- they are very popular.

previously i didn't buy binbags as i just used left over shopping bags, now i have to buy plastic bin bags. I recycle everything that i can but what about wet food waste?

I have just ended up going with the fashion and achieved nothing as i am still throwing away plastic binbags around my rubbish.

What about the packaging that supermarkets insist on using? why is no one going on about that?

[Nichola Moore]

I too use the reusable bags here in Australia. They're big, they hold more, the handles don't cut off the circulation to your fingers and they stand up in the boot of the car.
Read the labels of the binbags and buy the degradable ones. Easy.

[BigAl]

I was recently rummaging around some old storage (on top of wardrobe) and when I tried to lift a (non-special?) plastic bag full of old photos
- it basically turned to confetti !!

What's going on there ??

[Chris Palmer]

Hmmmmmmm....

I seem to recall that the supermarket carrier bags used to be substantially better in the 1980's.

They were changed to the modern type as we were assured that they were made of a material that was bio-degradable.

We used to avoid getting carrier bags by using the cardboard boxes that supermarkets used to have by the thousand. And when we got the stuff home, the boxes could be cut apart and put on the compost heap where they rotted down before being used to help my vegetables. But, one seldom sees a cardboard box these days, probably because the manufacturer shrink-wraps pallets of produce to send to the supermarket central warehouses whence it's despatched in smaller amounts to each store.

In short, however, I think the real problem with plastic bags is less the bags themselves than behaviour of so many users who dispose of them thoughtlessly.

[Melissa Roberts]

I wrap the messy rubbish in old newspaper before it goes in the bin, which reduces the need for plastic bin liners. Also, our council in Sydney allows us to put food waste wrapped in paper in the garden waste bin for communal composting, which, along with recycling, has slashed the amount of my rubbish going to landfill.

[Ariel]

"Look at most plastic items and you’ll see a triangle containing a number; the higher that number the harder the product is to recycle."

This is not true.

When you get a basic fact like this wrong, the rest of what you wrote is suspect.

And after reading it, I agree - it's mostly wrong.

[Mark]

Funny how you failed to mention the article in the Times recently that revealed that plastic bags have no measurable impact on marine mammals and that this myth was created by a typo in a study that transposed the word 'bag' for the word 'waste'.

Most of what you have written here is emotive nonsense I'm afraid. A scientist you are not.

[Frederick]

Plastic bags are unnecessary and that's it. Charge a pound each and the problem is solved.

[John Howson]

My council insists that all household rubbish must be put in a plastic bag before putting them in the bin or it will refuse to take it. So ALL my supermarket bags are used for this.If the supermarkets stopped suppliing them, I would still have to purchase them. Its the plastic food is pre packed in that is the problem not the plastic bag.

[Paul Danon]

Lots of good info but what terrible writing. Please could it be recycled into plain language?

[Paula Hill]

Here in Switzerland we have to pay 30 centimes for a large, durable paper carrier bag that lasts for a year if you look after it and don't get it too wet. The impact on the built environment is huge. There are no tatty bags hanging from the trees or bowling down the road like 21st century tumbleweed.

[Tom Johnson]

People *do* know how long a plastic bag takes to breakdown as it is a test you can do yourself. Put a standard supermarket plastic bag in a cupboard or your attic, come back 5 years later and it will have turned into small pieces of confetti. The average supermarket shopping bag from the last 15 years is not made of sufficient material to last very long.

[True Friend of the Earth]

For now why not just put them in land fill for now and then when fossil fuels run out we can re-label the old land fill as a fuel dump and start burning the plastic and other stuff to generate electricity.

[Jo]

First, there are three of us in this house and we throw away 52 carrier bags per year (one per week round our rubbish). So, your figures for this family are out by 272 carrier bags for each person. We cannot be unique.
Second, it is perfectly possible to avoid a great deal of packaging. For example, buy vegetables loose rather than in plastic trays and deliberately choose other items that are wrapped in paper and cardboard.
Third, it is plastic of any type that is the mischief and the world is awash with it. It's time we stopped producing it.
It's time to think global and act local.

[spaqman]

well eco warrior Anna, what do you suggest?carry a suitcase to the supermarket?hey, why dont we all drive stupid electric cars, wear 10 layers instead of using heating, take a bath once a week etc and save the planet!then again..how about not!

[Laura]

These evil things are ubiquitous because we have been lulled into the habit of relying on them (anyone remember not so long ago when we had to pay for them so brought our own?) Just buy several decent cloth bags that fold flat and take them everywhere you might possibly be tempted to shop. ALWAYS refuse plastic bags, which are not actually compulsory, by the way, and it will be second nature before you know it.

[Sarah]

Er, actually plastic bags are very useful. In Denmark they are burnt along with other non-toxic fume giving household goods for energy. Unfortunetly the other goods do not burn well and so plastic bags are the only things that keep it going. Scientists here are trying to stop plastic bags being banned because without them this source of energy and way of safely disposing of rubbish is lost. Perhaps in Britain you need to be more responsible instead of throwing your bags in the sea. Plastic bags are fine but often the users are irresponsible

[John Ledbury]

They may not last long, but they outlast the "bag for life". A carton slit through my last one on the first use, the handle broke on the one before that, also first use.

[Wendy Waters]

In the days before plastic carrier bags, I can remember my Mother always had a purpose made, sturdy shopping bag with her. Its taken 40 odd years for us all to realise that cheap disposable bags are literally "rubbish". So calling all those designer handbag companies out there, please design a stylish "must have", ecologically sound shopping bag; not like the cheap and hurried marketed ones the supermarkets are currently selling - the smell of sisal is not particularly attractve !

[Frank]

Why pick on the super-market and housewives. I live in the country, every crop such as silage and hay is wrapped in plastic sheeting. It seems to last forever and I would bet that farming plastics outweigh the pollution from supermarkets.

[Sarah V]

It seems to me that even if you're not entirely convinced by the above arguments, it is nevertheless a good idea to avoid using disposable plastic bags. They may not be the most wasteful element of modern life, and they may even biodegrade, but they are still nevertheless a reasonably unnecessary use of resource, and something that can easily be replaced with more sustainable, permanent options.

To me, this would be one of many little changes you can make - using energy efficient light bulbs, insulting your house etc - that make no difference to your lifestyle and actually save you money as you use less electricity.

There's a charity I'm involved with called Together.com that is based around these principles. Some of the things you can do are so straightforward, and they're also running a competition at the moment in which you can win a load of eco-friendly prizes. Seeing as its a "confess your eco sins" theme, even some sceptics might be interested...

[Lord Nontcommery]

None of this would be a problem if the servants would go down to the butcher and the greengrocer like they are instructed to. Its all their fault!

[Joe]

I live in France where free plastic bags are a thing of the past. Shoppers need to take their own bags to the supermarkets.
This has a downside. Everybody buys plastic bin liners instead of using the 'free' supermarket ones. Is this more eco-friendly? You tell me.

[Luke Nicolaides]

I reuse my plastic bags as bin liners and I also use old bread bags to put my sandwiches in.

[Jonathan]

Replacing plastic bags with paper carrier bags is likely to lead to a worse environmental impact. This may seem strange, but the reality is that paper bags are much heavier than comparable plastic bags and need more energy to transport and produce. Even worse, when paper bags degrade in landfill they produce methane, a greenhouse gas that is more than 20X more damaging than CO2.

[Tony]

All the time I go into shops, and the staff always want to give bags. Even when I just have one item, out the bag comse and I'm always having to refuse them or take my stuff out of the bag. Marks and Spencer is particular bad at this, and they are blasting their green credentials to everyone. Change has to start from good behaviour from the shops.

[Reality Check]

I agree that we should tax these bags to encourage multiple use but you should know that the BBC programme was a typically ill informed(i) firstly these bags are mostly recyled in china unless they are too contaminated to clean and more importantly (ii) we import vast quantities of product from China and something has to fill the containers on their journey home.....otherwise you are shipping air. Used plastic is sent back and recyled into those very products that you buy everyday and cheaply in your store.

[Sellsey]

London Borough of Greenwich also collects them. Since Jan this year our food waste is wrapped in paper and placed in with the garden waste for communal composting.

[Ben Thom]

Of course, Anna Sheperd is right. The point is that, yes, there other more importent environmental problems such as plastic packaging, but if we're dealing with plastic bags, they are, yes, a bad thing. Anyone who talks about them burning easily and breakdown is talking rubbish (ha ha). I thought it was interesting that she did link to the article in the times about whether or not plastic bags are bad for marine life.

[Mary W]

Bin liners are as unnecessary as plastic shopping bags. If you are separating out your compost, then what goes in the bin should not be that gloopy, so a single sheet of newspaper lining the bottom should be sufficient or even nothing at all. Bins can then be tipped directly into outside bin and will need a quick wipe down inside at most. I must admit I do this in ignorance of the fact that some councils insist on rubbish being wrapped in plastic bags but I don't intend to change. If we all did the same, I'd like to see what councils would do. In fact, here's a bit of direct action, I would love it if everybody just decided they were going to a) stop using plastic bin liners b)stop using plastic shopping bags and c)most impotantly, remove all unnecessary packaging at the till point and hand it back to the cashier with a big smile, saying 'you tried to flog it to me, so you can recycle it.'

While I'm at it, another idea in the little things can make a big difference vein - I'd like to see all schools decide that white shirts are no longer going to be part of their uniform. Less chemicals going through washing machines, and less leverage for the condescending adverts from washing powder manufacturers who think parents (ie mums as far as they're concerned) have nothing better to worry about than the prospect of their little darlings going to school with anything other than a blindingly white collar.

[Mark]

My local council recycles plastic bags. We have a collection every two weeks for plastic materials including plastic bags.

[Nick]

5 myths? No.
1. You don't know.
2. You admit is not a myth.
3. You don't know.
4. True.
5. True.

Good work.

[Graham]

In the corner of Belgium where my parents-in-law live, plastic shopping bags have been banned, so have the longer life ones. The result has been a massive rise in the sale of plastic bin liners, which some people buy to carry home their shopping. The whole plastic bag furore is a total diversion from the real issue - the disgraceful amount of packaging we lug home with our groceries. The packaging alone must comprise at least 50 per cent, if not more, of what we throw away. And I applaud the family of three who say they throw away just one carrier bag of rubbish a week. How do they do it? Our family, comprising my wife and I and our five month old baby, throw away a carrier bag of rubbish EVERY DAY.

[Cecilia]

You should see what happens in the Bahamas or in Brazil. The supermarkets have people to pack your shopping for you. No matter how light the contents of a bag, you will always end up with double bags, which are made of very week plastic. At home the "mades" unpack and put them all in the rubbish. In the UK I take my "bags for life" to the supermarket but always make sure I bring a couple of the nasty ones for my bathroom rubbish. And I buy bin liners for the kitchen. Is there a solution, really? I wish I were in Denmark, Laura.

[sarah, charente france]

Free plastic bags of any type or size are a means of advertising that I doubt many shops would be keen on losing.

[Billy Bop]

Why do you namby pamby people feel the need to use any kind of bin liner. If you compost most of your 'wet' waste and recycle most the other, then it doesn't take too much trouble to have to 'wash' the kitchen bin out every now and again. There is no hope for our species with dumb the attitudes we have towards our nature and planet!!

[jenny mccann]

why is the consumer being the party that gets taxed? What about the billions of tonnes of plastic waste supermarkets watse in over packaging? Yes we should all try an reuse plastic bags, recycle them, or even better just not use them.... but its almost like the UK is focusing all its new green drive on this one issue... surely over packaging is a much more difficult and important issue to tackle, and surely FMCG companies and supermarkets should be the companies at the forefront on tackling it... making consumers pay more for the villified plactic bag is losing sight of the real issues

[David]

All of my shopping bags get reused as bin liners. If I don't do this the council bin gets disgusting, especially in the summer, as nowadays they are only collected every two weeks. If I can't use shopping bags I'll still have to buy bin bags so how does that benefit the environment?

[Lucy]

Tony's right, shops should be better at helping. Tesco had a good scheme recently where you had to ask before they gave you a bag - it just helped make me think before I went out to the shops - but they gave up on it because, apparently, so many people found it 'offensive' to have to ask. Mad. And if I buy loose veg, most of the time the shop assistant politely wraps each individual piece in its own dinky bag. Leaving out eco concerns, why would I WANT one head of garlic, or three lemons I'll put straight in the fruit bowl, wrapped in plastic? Or if I buy one loaf of bread (already wrapped), why are so many shops uneasy at me simply carrying it out of the shop unbagged? Do bags help identify shoplifters or something?

[Werner]

We have arrived in the UK last year and brought a bunch of paper shopping bags from Switzerland along which we use all the time. They have now lasted here alone for 8 months and will continue for many more. You have to pay for them in the store in Switzerland 25 centimes = 13 pence but you use and re-use them time and again. Do not understand why this cannot be done here either.

[Niall]

Because, Billy Bop and all the other condescending compost-nazis, some of us don't live in suburban and rural houses with gardens. So we can't compost anything. Some of us live in flats where it is necessary to carry ones rubbish down several flights of stairs to a big bin outside: a task for which a bin bag is the only solution. But we don't drive to the supermarket either, so ask yourself who's being green now?

[Fern]

Hi, I agree with the fact that plastic bags are an environmental nuisance and people should be more conscious about what they do with their old shopping bags after. I use mine as bin liners after. My concern is that now I am buying bin liners which is also plastic to hold my rubbish. Is it not just swapping one plastic bag for another? what is the best solution?

[Mary W]

I lived in a flat for years. I carried my kitchen bin down to the bin outside. For a while my kitchen waste was included in this, but lining the bottom with newspaper was still sufficient. Then I got the council to provide a communal compost bin to be taken away. When I had back problems I came to an arrangement with a neighbour about taking rubbish down. My circumstances meant I couldn't always be as waste free as I liked, but I kept looking for solutions rather than accepting the status quo that plastic bags are somehow an inevitable part of our lives. There is nothing condescending about suggesting that people can find alternatives, and to assume that anybody who manages to reduce waste is living in suburban/rural idyll is a bit lazy.

[KR]

Damage to wildlife is a non-starter as an excuse for getting rid of plastic bags. It is not caused by the bag but by a litter lout, and you don't cure that by removing one source of litter that will immediately be replaced by another.
And my contribution to the landfill, like many of your other commentators, is plastic bags full of non-recyclable rubbish, so if you take away my free supply I'll just end up buying them instead.
Why don't you concentrate on real problems instead, like all of the non-recyclable garbage I am forced to by as packaging on individual items?

[John]

Stop my free supermarket carrier bags and one the things I will start buying at the supermarket will be plastic bags. Currently the carrier bags are used for bin liners and picking up the dogs mess. The carrier bags I get are clearly marked as bio-degradable: the bags I will buy are not. More environmental tokenism gone wrong.

[Gina]

I can not believe the negative posts on here, is it really so hard to take shopping bags (not plastic ones) to the supermarket? Or carry a small fold up shopping bag around? Say no to plastic bags, it is pretty easy, and makes sense. I am shocked that so many people are so negative.

[Verity]

I use plastic bags as bin liners too and believe that whilst fresh food and most other products come packaged in large amounts of non-recyclable material there really isn't any other choice. So instead of everyone saying "it's not plastic bags, it's packaging" why not say they're both a problem and lobby to have both non-recycable/ non-biodegradable packaging 'and' plastic bags eliminated at the same time?
Makes sense to me...

[LJ]

The cult of the plastic bag hater is alive and well I see, and still trying to brainwash more members into following it's teachings. Scare tactics, guilt trips, spin-doctored "facts" - clearly the workings of a sinister mind. What next ? Will our millions of CCTV cameras be used to spy on plastic bag users, swat teams from the local councils following them home to check for mis-use? Why oh why do we keep filling the newspapers with this drivel when there are some really important things happening that deserve the column space?

[Marlboro Man]

Most of the supermarket plastic bags that I use around the home - storing odds and ends, that sort of thing, last a couple of years before being broken down, presumeably by UV light. When I first started finding tiny pieces of plastic, that disintegrated on touch, around the house I thought we had mice, but it became quite clear that they were 'self destructing'!

Of course, this fact won't silence the ecomental harpies.

[Hall]

1) We re-use all our plastic shopping bags as bin liners around the house. Paper bin liners are no good in the kitchen for food and other wet items, so if, due to government intervention, we have to stop bringing plastic bags home from the shops then we will simply have to buy plastic bin liners instead. Whatever happens, we will still use the same amount of plastic bags.

2) I came across a plastic bag in our kitchen cupboard the other day that looked as if it had been shredded by a rodent. Upon close inspection it had in fact degraded by itself, just sitting there in the cupboard. The remaining parts of the bag that were still whole simply fell into small particles when touched. Since the bag had been there for no longer than one year, it would seem decomposition time for the bag had clearly been established as 1year or less -- nothing like the 100 years to 1000 year nonsense suggested in this article.

[Sascha]

Great article Anna. Well presented.

I'd be interested to know how you could encourage people to be more environmentally aware generally. I think the richer people become, the less they care about anyone or anything else outside of their own bubble. My flatmate refuses to recycle because he's lazy. What can you do and how can you encourage people to care?

[Jimmy]

You don't have to be an eco-warrior to see that plastic bags are an unnecessary waste and if you can't eliminate their use altogether you can at least try to minimise the amount you get through. It's not difficult for everyone to cut down on resources they use; plastic bags, energy etc... Anyone who says different is just plain lazy.

[diana]

Chester collects plastic bags to compact + landfill them - not recycle

[Cllr Alexis Rowell, Camden Eco Champion]

In my ward in London we're planning a voluntary plastic bag ban in cooperation with our local retailers. Modbury in Devon was the first community in the UK to bring in a voluntary plastic bag ban. It’s only a tiny part of the solution, but it’s a very visible symbol of our need to change from a fossil fuel-based consumer society to something more sustainable. The evidence from Modbury is that the plastic bag ban has encouraged residents, businesses and organisations to make many other more significant changes to cut the carbon out of their lives.

[Tomas]

Having lived in the netherlands for a year, they charge 20 Cents for a large plastic bag that can be used repeatedly or you can use the bags they provide for free which are similar to those in the fruit & veg section in the supermarket and highly impractical. People tend to buy the bags and re-use or bring their own bags.
A small charge on a better quality bag could be an answer. I seriously doubt the figures quoted but if more enviromentally friendly options are presented at the same cost that at least would give people the choice.

[ANN JONES]

I don't give a shit about marine life. I want my plastic bags.

[K]

I live in France (Paris) too and contrary to the above comments, I don't believe plastic bags are a thing of the past. I get free plastic bags in all the stores I buy from. As many people have mentioned above, I also reuse the plastic bags for household waste. If I don't have free plastic bags, I buy them and so I'm not sure how the problem is changed. Using a piece of newspaper is not a solution in my opinion.

[sarah, charente france]

I live in France too & 2 of the 3 supermarkets near me just do not give out bags. People survive, I never hear complaints. A notice went up in 1 of them about 5 years ago saying no more bags as of ...? Don't forget to bring your own, they gave us each one big shopping bag & that was it. NO Probs.

[Samantha]

Ok. People who have had plastic bags miraculously "biodegrade" in a few years in their lofts clearly don't know the meaning of the term. Most supermarket carrier bags are labelled "degradable". This means they break down into small pieces. They do not however biodegrade down to a biological level as there are currently no types of bacteria or fungus that break down plastic. These bags do not biodegrade into safe components, they simply degrade into small parts perfect for ingestion by sea birds and wildlife etc.
I agree with the comment regarding the panic shops display when you refuse a bag: i carry out milk by its handily designed handle and bread already in its own wrapper, and am also stared at like a nutter or shoplifter!
As for lining your bins, if you must buy biodegradable ones for the landfill. No one said saving the world, the planet and your great grandchildren's lives was going to be effort free!!!
For goodness sake all you negative, resistant people are simply going to have to learn to accept change.

[BP Vallance]

Sacha : "I'd be interested to know how you could encourage people to be more environmentally aware generally."

Firstly, introduce daily refuse/recycling collections as in the far more efficient Med. countries like Greece. Apart from daily collections, plastic bags (and water bottles) are shredded and efficiently used for hardcore and other building materials rather than just exported and dumped.

Secondly, use MORE supermarket carriers rather than less. Far more friendly than any other refuse bag.

Thirdly, return to tungsten light bulbs where the waste heat produced reduces your energy use for heating.

Fourthly, the use of 'bio-diesel' is a crime against Gaia and against Humanity.

These tokenist campaigns have everything to do with the religion of 'Big-green' and are positively harmful for the welfare of humanity and the planet.

[James Russell]

Why the fuss about plastic bags? They're a visible symbol of a throwaway culture. Of course banning them only makes sense if you declare war on plastic packaging, polystyrene, etc.

A plastic bag doesn't biodegrade. It just breaks down into tiny particles which then join the residues from chemical cleaning products, chemical paints, flame retardants from furniture and carpets, etc, filling our houses with toxic dust. And then we and our children breathe it all in.

Asthma, anyone? There's only one anwer: Turn Your Parents Green!

[Storm]

I love how people can feel free to lob missiles from behind the safety of their computer screens. Take issue with the article if you must, but how about leaving the insults out of it? Sheesh.

I'm trying to forgo both plastic and paper bags- I can reuse and recycle both easily enough, but I'd prefer not to get them in the first place, when there are more long-lasting alternatives.

As much as we can accomplish things as individuals, I would like to see shops and local authorities/ governments doing much more too.

Here in Ireland, they put a levy on plastic bags and raised it. It definitely does work, but it's only part of the solution.

[Al]

Your totally right, Storm. I'd like to see blog posters coming out from behind their screens and hurling their insults to someone's face. It's cowardly, and as you say, too often isn't about the subject, but a personal load of insults

[Almost Mrs Average]

I agree Storm. Any effort made through the retail chain right through to the waste management stream can only help and should be celebrated. All efforts should be encouraged, whether it's from the consumer or any other party. The plastic bag has been a natural fall guy, today it's the plastic bottles and tomorrow it will be something else, which is all positive in the wider agenda. Anna should be thanked for encouraging debate. And as far as society is concerned, it would be great to think that everyone shared the same ability to recycle. However the realistic view may be to look at the situation in the same way as income tax, which highlights that not everyone is equal and that some have greater opportunities than others, often dictated by knowledge, education, socio\economic demographics or simply location. Call me a naive optimist, but I believe it is better to encourage progress through positive actions than discourage efforts through critical comments.

[Christy]

The plastic doesn't EVER go away. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there.
http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/270/

[S P Lee]

Note what Samantha said about bags not 'bio'degrading. They disintegrate, become little fragments, into little globules or what have you, get into the water and get ingested by some poor animal that might then become our food. Plastic does not rot down and 'return' to the earth as organic matter. Wrt plastic lining bins: what was life like before plastic bags? Was there life before plastic bags? Line with old newspapers, eg. I can empathize with flat-dwellers and refuse-disposal. I'm sure they are doing the best they can. I now pack things in old envelopes, jiffy bags, the plastic in cereal boxes, the plastic bags new clothes come, the large plastic bags my delivery comes in, the bags holding toilet rolls, etc if I needed to transport anything.

[pip]

I try and re-use the thin plastic bags needed for small fruit and veg that can't go loose in the trolley, but they tend to tear pretty quickly. Have just come across "Onya Weigh" bags - a set of five, very light-weight see-through mesh bags that can be used for bread rolls, fruit etc. up to 2kg. Cost about £8 or £9.

[jill]

Apparently there is not a beach in this world which is free from the little particles of plastic, which in turn is ingested by very small fish and so in turn is passed up the chain, until it is part of our food cycle too.

I am not sure if the person who says they do not care about marine life is winding us up? When some part of their body starts to fail becuse they have eaten too much plastic, will they still not care?

This is a complex issue, but I agree with most of the comments here; we managed before without plastic, why can't we manage now?

It is our behaviour that is the problem; we must find a way of making it easy to continue living in the same way but in an ecological way. I think it is very hard to expect people to stop living with the benefits that modern life brings.

Certainly not using plastic bags is an extremely easy way of easing ones conscience about the planet!

Well done Anna, regardless of the rights and wrongs of your arguments, at least the articles make people think and encourage comment and debate. Thank you.

[SP Lee]

"... in france the plastic bags that cost a few cents (none are free any more) last about five weeks or less before they start to disintigrate. The more UV they are exposed to the faster they disintigrate.

The ones I get in the UK (I'm over a great deal) seem to last longer but they also eventually rot."
said "JennyTom"

Apparently while plastic bags disintegrate, they do not rot the way banana skin rots. They get turned into little fragments, tiny microscopic bits of dust even which -- logically -- could remain in the water, ingested by animals and enter the food chain. See http://www.eco-ethical.co.uk/plasticbag.html

[Trif]

This plastic bag thing is a real problem , for example many staes in Africa are banning them because they cannot be dealt with .I was recently in Eritrea where shop-keepers may not offer such things , but if a pack biscuits come in plastic they wrap them in newspaper to avoid the problem , generally paperbags are king. So if their government can be so tough on the problem why can't the UK's ? Tax be damned they are trying to bleed the consumer again , are they frightened of upsetting industry in a switch to recycled paper ?