We’re talking plastic bags
In recent years, increasing numbers of jurisdictions around the world have acted to reduce reliance upon plastic bags. However, in 2014 over 7.6 billion single-use plastic bags were given to customers by major supermarkets in England. That’s something like 140 bags per person, the equivalent of about 61,000 tonnes in total. These pesky plastic bags have suffocated miles of coastline the world over, damaged wildlife, and have come to symbolise the worst excesses of a throw-away society -So why on earth do we still use them?
It’s all about carbon footprint
Getting down to brass tacks if you take a straight like for like comparison, i.e. one single use bag vs. a more durable “reusable” plastic bag (which is heavier therefore requiring more oil and energy to make), then you’d need to reuse the more durable plastic bag 4 times to get back the higher carbon costs.Cotton would require nearly 131 uses, but consider again that if you go shopping say, twice a week, that works out at about a year’s usage.
Local Green’s currently use ‘recycled plastic bags’ in our bagging process because we feel they have the least impact on our environment, this is also coupled with the fact that unfortunately, there’s currently no substitute for plastic in terms of keeping greens fresh: paper and compostable plastics absorb moisture from leafy greens whereas the 100% recycled bags which we currently use are more effective in keeping vegetables fresher for longer. That said, we are working with our farmers and suppliers to deliver the individual veg items without plastic packaging. As its standsknow it’s not a perfect solution so we’re considering new ways to make the bagging solution better. We would love to hear your views and have therefore drawn a brief survey (3 questions) which we would be grateful for if you could answer, click here for the survey.
It’s not all doom and gloom.
With the 5p tax levy in full flow the UK government has estimated that over the next 10 years, from 2014, the benefits of the scheme will see an overall benefit of over £780 million to the UK economy, with carbon savings of £13 million and £60 million savings in litter clean-up costs. Watch this space.....