The Daily Echo 7 February 2008

Written by Sandra Gidley MP on Thu 7th Feb 2008

There are now a number of towns where a collective effort is being made to reduce the use of plastic bags by offering more sustainable alternatives. I recently met with a small group of women who are working on a "Better Bags for Romsey" campaign. The simple aim is to encourage all retailers to think about alternatives to the carrier bag and for all shoppers to start using and reusing bags.

This is slightly easier said than done as it takes a while to change the habits of a lifetime. Since Christmas I have been trying, but not always succeeding, to use one of my growing collection of bags from sustainable sources and to remember to put my bags for life back in the car ready for the next supermarket trip.

I wish the campaign luck and hope that shoppers and shopkeepers get behind the initiative but the manufacturers of plastic bags are already beginning to fight back.

There is a proposal to try and introduce a London Local Authorities (shopping bags) bill and this has prompted the trade association to lobby MPs. One of their wilder claims was that without plastic bags there would be a "significant negative impact on public hygiene" as well as "impacting upon London's role as a world destination for shopping, culture and the arts". I do think they are over playing their case as they have only just stopped short of claiming that the world will end if we suddenly start using carrier bags.

The simple fact is that the better bags campaigns, and their like, should be seen as one of the first steps we can take in reducing how much we consume. I recently completed one of the many carbon footprint questionnaires that are available on the web. I've made a number of changes over recent months but was horrified to learn that I was still living in an unsustainable way. I could make grand plans but human nature is such that they are hard to stick to so making small gradual changes will be most effective in the long run.

Tony Juniper of Friends of the Earth claimed that "until supermarkets reduce the energy used in their stores, minimise food miles and treat farmers better saving a few plastic bags is just window dressing." He has a point but would do well to remember the old saying that a journey is composed of a thousand steps. It seems to me that addressing the issue of plastic bags and reducing packaging waste is a good place to start before taking the next step in the journey. ?

Published with kind permission of The Daily Echo