I thought I’d explained adequately that I had not set out to do any shopping but was on my way to the theatre. When I do supermarket shopping I go prepared and rarely if ever use the plastic bags they provide. However, my strides were an impulse buy - the sort of thing that the retail industry and the government is supposed to be trying to encourage. I did not have a bag with me and would begrudge paying 5p (about twenty times the cost of a plastic bag) to enable me to take away a product that cost £40.
I fully agree that marine life in particular needs protection from the hazards presented by plastic bags. However, as LG has said, the use of plastic in some form will scarcely decline. But some of the other issues this measure is said to address are ridiculous. Among the things “a LibDem spokesman” mentioned is that plastic bags are an eyesore in the countryside. If they are concerned about eyesores they should take a trip to any area with a McDonalds “restaurant”. Within 200 yards they will find enough discarded packaging to fill fifty carrier bags. If they are concerned about packaging they should prevent supermarkets using a polystyrene tray and plastic wrapping to sell a single apple. They should prevent them wrapping cucumbers in plastic when the product has a perfectly good disposable wrapping of its own.
“no-one can really complain too much as its for a good cause. “
Yes they can. I like to choose what “good causes” I donate my hard earned to. I give enough to not-so-good causes by way of taxes. I am also concerned at the choice charities the levy is likely to benefit. Money raised by the levy in Wales has gone to “Save the Children”. Have a look at their website and you will find their aims and objectives. Here’s a few:
“We help children who are missing out on school get a decent education”
“We're providing access to better healthcare and food so children grow up healthier”
“We have an eight-step plan of action for tackling global child hunger”
Quite how any of these problems are caused by excessive use of plastic bags is a little hard to fathom. Looking at the rest of their aims none seems in any way related to plastic bag use in the UK. In fact, scarcely any of the work done by the charity takes place in the UK at all. (“We work in over 120 countries including the UK”). People who want to make donations to Save the Children are very welcome to do so. I do not and I certainly don’t want to see cash ostensibly taken to help the environment when it is doing nothing of the sort.
Finally, I’m surprised that this scheme finds such support among many AB-ers. Given the general antipathy towards the Daily Mail shown by many AB correspondents and bearing in mind that the DM has, for some inexplicable reason, been at the forefront of this campaign, I’m a little confused.