Since someone started the idea to rid the planet of thin film plastic bags, I've been doing my bit most of the time. But I'm sure it would be even easier to be completely supportive if our government took the Irish approach and taxed the bags almost out of existence.
While plastic bag use in the UK has dropped by a reasonable 26% over two years, the rather more successful Irish solution resulted in a 94% reduction in use. They didn't have to ban them, just made people think about whether they really wanted to pay for them. A bit like the "polluter pays" rhetoric from the UK government.
If you Google anti plastic bag you will find plenty of references to the subject, including a pro plastic bag group funded by (surprise, surprise!) Exxon Mobil and Dow Corporation.
It's probably not realistic, nor even reasonable, to ban or stop using plastic bags because they do have many practical uses. But would it not be reasonable to make an effort to significantly reduce our use of them, and particularly take care in the way we dispose of them, instead of them lining our roadside hedges with fluttering tatty bags.
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