In Defence of the Plastic Bag

moonrakerz

A classic example of the lunacy of many of the "planet saving" ideas that are being foisted on us. I bet the main B & Q depots are putting tons (quite literally !) of old "nasty" plastic bags into landfill so they can sell eco-friendly ones.

The Daily Mail will doubtless hail this as another "victory" in their stupid campaign.

You could almost laugh at it if it wasn't so b****y pathetic !!!

Cardew

unrich wrote: »

So really the title of the post should be how lazy and thoughtless the public are.

What a bunch of f_e_c_kless, ignorant, short termists can't be bothered to plan to take a bag out when they go shopping.

Worse still when they've finished with their unneeded bags they throw them out. They let them fly around in the wind, get caught in hedges and dissappear into the sea.

I agree, just like guns, 4x4s, machetes, standby mode, uninsulated houses, 24 hour economy its not the actual thing that's thet problem its the ignorant, ill-educated, lazy so-and-so who can't do without it or can't use it without doing damage to the rest of us. I mean we wouldn't need a nanny state if we didn;t all behave like infants.

Thanks for pointing this out.

I think the above takes the prize for the most illogical post in this section; expressed in the most infantile terms!

On a thread detailing the secondary uses of plastic bags to reach the conclusion:

Worse still when they've finished with their unneeded bags they throw them out. They let them fly around in the wind, get caught in hedges and dissappear into the sea.

is bizarre.

unrich

It was meant to be read as seriously as the first line of the OP.
Sorry if it went over your head.

Cardew

unrich wrote: »

It was meant to be read as seriously as the first line of the OP.
Sorry if it went over your head.

It most certainly did ‘go over my head’. I am mortified!!! and apologise!

I am not used to seeing subtle humour in this section of MSE, there are so many posts from ‘green’ zealots wanting to know how they can re-cycle their toenail clippings etc.

Ben84

I still use disposable plastic bags in small numbers when I need them. Sometimes I buy something I wasn't expecting to, or I end up with heavy items I wasn't expecting and they won't all fit in my reusable bags. They don't get instantly thrown away when I get home, I save them for bin liners and other useful things. I don't use much more than 30 a year.

There is nothing wrong with plastic bags, they serve a useful purpose and can be reused for many other things. I will miss them when they're no longer available for free in any of the shops around here, I will have to start buying bin liners and finding new things for everything I currently use plastic bags for. They are always useful for when you give something to someone, like a house plant.

I'm not going to believe that plastic bags are terrible and should never be used, there's no great harm in using a few. To be fair, they're thin low mass plastic and in small numbers have almost no effect on the bulk of our rubish. The problem is when people take 500 a year home and instantly stick them in the wheelie bin because they have no other uses for them.

dixie_dean_2

I think the point here is simple and it's about waste. Nobody is saying people have to radically change their lifestyle or that it is going to save the world overnight. What it is about and is totally in tune with this website, is about making a saving at no cost to yourself, simply by cutting down on waste. It is a waste of energy to leave the TV on standby - the cost to you of stopping this waste is remembering to turn the TV on and off at the base when you enter/exit the room. With plastic bags, the only cost to you is to remember when you go shopping to take them, or, as I do, leave them in the boot of the Prius. Also, if you're buying one small item or a few and/or you dont have far to go, is it really that much of an inconvenience just to put it in your pocket or carry it? The positive effect to the world may be tiny (it may not be) but I just don't understand why people would not do these simple things.

moonrakerz

dixie_dean wrote: »

as I do, leave them in the boot of the Prius.

Don't start me on that one too !!!!

dixie_dean_2

But could you respond to what I have said please?

geordie_joe

dixie_dean wrote: »

but I just don't understand why people would not do these simple things.

Because they don't care, or they don't know, or they have got better things to think about.

Not everyone needs to save money and not everyone wants to "save the planet".

I use a rucksack most times I go shopping, but have never recycled a thing in my life. Not counting the scrap metal I used to collect as a kid.

And as I'm staying put in my house I doubt I ever will.

Cardew

dixie_dean wrote: »

I think the point here is simple and it's about waste. Nobody is saying people have to radically change their lifestyle or that it is going to save the world overnight. What it is about and is totally in tune with this website, is about making a saving at no cost to yourself, simply by cutting down on waste. It is a waste of energy to leave the TV on standby - the cost to you of stopping this waste is remembering to turn the TV on and off at the base when you enter/exit the room. With plastic bags, the only cost to you is to remember when you go shopping to take them, or, as I do, leave them in the boot of the Prius. Also, if you're buying one small item or a few and/or you dont have far to go, is it really that much of an inconvenience just to put it in your pocket or carry it? The positive effect to the world may be tiny (it may not be) but I just don't understand why people would not do these simple things.

To point out the perceived waste of 'standby' TV consumption, and in the same paragraph imply that owning a Prius makes you a role model in the conservation stakes, isn't joined up thinking in my book.

In switching on your computer and posting on the evils of unnecessary electrical consumption, you have probably used more electricity than my TV consumes in standby mode in a month.