Home Arts & Entertainment Culture & Lifestyle Economy Food Health News & Politics Offbeat People Products Science & Technology Sports Travel

Science & Technology

Rant

Britain Is Getting Greener

Posted 17 months ago|6 comments|482 views

TAGS

greener , supermarkets , plastic bags , eco friendly , bags for life

Written by

Jack Walsh

Britain is getting greener and using around 43% fewer plastic bags, a massive swing in the right direction according to The Mirror.

The percentage change represents a 4.5 billion drop in the number of plastic bags used since 2006.

According to the British Retail Consortium, who released this data : "This is a tremendous achievement by supermarkets and customers to reduce environmental impact."

The actions taken by the supermarkets to reduce the number of plastic bags used have been voluntary, and today the BRC is praising supermarkets for their noble efforts.

The stores involved are Asda, Marks & Spence, the Co-operative Group (now incorporating Somerfield), Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose.

EMAIL|FLAG THIS POST

To:

From:

COMMENTS

6 comments|ADD A COMMENT|JUMP TO MOST RECENT

Altruist
Eugene, OR

17 months ago: Good On Ya!

Here in California there are efforts to ban plastic bags or to charge for them.

I have about 10 cloth bags and have gotten use to them. They are great for heavy stuff and can be filled up (if you are strong enough to lift a full one).

FLAG THIS COMMENT

Out Of The Box

Moderator

17 months ago: So what has taken the place of plastic? Is it a re-usable bag that people take to the store with them, or is it paper? Paper bag production is more intensive than plastic:

Five times more energy used to produce a paper bag,

14 million more trees cut to produce the paper bags in the US alone,

Paper produces 70% more air pollution, and 50 times more water pollution than plastic,

91% more energy to recycle a pound of paper than a pound of plastic

FLAG THIS COMMENT

amishking

Moderator
Auburn, NY

17 months ago: Britain is not getting greener. I looked it up on the weather map today.

Nope. Same shade of green it was yesterday.

Sorry guys.

FLAG THIS COMMENT

markbyrn

Moderator

17 months ago: I'll ditto OOTB's remarks and to quote garbologist Bill Rathje, a fellow at the Archaeology Center of Stanford University and director of The Garbage Project, and a leading authority on what is in America's garbage.

"It's not one that the paper-bag people like to hear. In a dry landfill, paper bags don't degrade any faster than plastic bags. In a normal, well-run landfill, paper bags do not biodegrade any faster over at least 40 years than plastic."

The problem with paper is that it's fatter, he explains.

"Paper bags are much bulkier than plastic, so they fill up more landfill space," Rathje says. "They're three to five times bulkier than plastic, and you can see that yourself at the grocery. Landfills are closing down because they're full. From that perspective, plastic is much better than paper."

Of course Al's method of using a re-useable bag is fine although his thinking on charging for plastic bags is flawed. The grocery stores already charge for bags, paper or plastic - it's just built into the cost of the groceries and you pay for them whether you use them or not. What the store should do is give you a rebate for using your own bag.

FLAG THIS COMMENT

Paper Tiger
England

17 months ago: Hi Jack, or should I say hallo Jack

I am sorry to rain on your parade, but The Mirror newspaper is hardly a base to cement your basis for empirical information. I would suspect the The Mirror if the told me it was raining, even if I was getting wet.

As for the string of supermarkets you have listed I find it hard to believe they are doing this with any integrity, its a perception exercise, to tell us how much they care for our invironment.

If, as you say they are doing their bit to make The British isles greener, why trumpet the very very small diference they are making.

If they really cared about the environment their lorries would be electric, the advertising packageing would be reduced, and sold in basic plain wrapping.

I went to Tesco's yesterday and everyone I saw leaving the shop had plastic bags advertising Tesco's.

I was a bit suprised that this is a rant and not a rave about our magnificant shopping outlets.

I personly think that these superstores taking custom away from the High Street are destroying a culture of towns and villages.

Superstores should lead the way removeing their carbon boot print, and think of a more effective way at really doing something that matters.

Plastic bags indeed

FLAG THIS COMMENT

Altruist
Eugene, OR

17 months ago: Paper Tiger has a point. I think the packaging is much more harmful than the bags.

Those foam plates or containers are almost ubiquitous, and unless made from corn starch (as some are) they take hundreds of years to decompose. They break up in the water to look like appetizing bits of food which are eaten and remain in the gullet until the animal dies. The foam is expensive and hard to recycle because it has a large volume and little weight so it is expensive to ship, and it takes up a lot of landfills.

One solution would be to have local recycling units that can melt or microwave the material and break it down to the basic oils that can them be remanufactored into plastic or even burnt as fuel. If the units are small and cheap enough for local landfills then shipping wouldn't be a problem.

I built my house from a product called Rastra Block which is 85% post consumer foam with a cement binder. Had an R factor of 65! The plant in the US had to shut down because shipping the used Styrofoam was so expensive, but I think there is still a plant in Mexico.

FLAG THIS COMMENT