Recently here in the UK, Marks and Spencer announced they would be charging for plastic bags (from their food section only I think it was). Something miniscule like 5p a bag. But still, given the amount of plastic bags they use (which is dwarfed by the big food supermarkets) that would be a tidy sum.

Everyone else is now jumping on the bandwagon, and my recent visit to the Co-op reveals they are doing the same, pushing a cotton bag versus the plastic bags which are now hidden underneath the counter.

My question is though – why do this when the plastic bags -they- give out are eco-friendly and biodegradable? I don’t believe many of the other supermarket chains have biodegradable bags, so why follow suit?

Saying plastic bags are bad for the environment is one thing, but using flawed studies to justify banning them is another. Follow that previous link and it tells you why a study looking at plastic -nets- was used to lasso plastic bags in as well.

We’re becoming too dependent on talking heads without getting real and valuable data on these products. Soon we’ll be banning streetlights because it hurts animals’ eyes, or banning bricks because rats can’t burrow through them (you know that some idiot somewhere is probably pushing a lunatic claim like that…).

Tags: