Things are beginning to move in the right direction in at least one small way. The movement to ban the free giveaway plastic bags so beloved of supermarkets is gathering pace. A couple of villages have already gone plastic-free, and on Tuesday the massed ranks of the London Boroughs voted unanimously to join them. It will take an act of Parliament to implement, but a private bill will shortly be put forward by Westminster Council.
The supermarkets won't go down without a fight, of course - bags provide almost free advertising - but they do have a problem in that they are trying to colour themselves green in the public's perception. Defending the plastic bag while appearing not to do so will require some fancy footwork, but I have every confidence they can manage it.
The public ought to have a similar problem, of course, as a substantial proportion of us describe ourselves as green/environmentally aware/active recyclers/you name it in opinion polls while actual statistics of green activity tell a very different story. But few of us are under individual scrutiny in the same way as Tesco or Sainsbury.
Being environmentally aware myself (well that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!) I scan the shopping trolleys of my fellow shoppers, and their actions at the checkout. I don't see many bringing their own bags - though at least I am no longer the only one - and all too often I see someone exiting with a trolley piled with 7 or 8 bags, each with only a few items in. I don't really understand that, environmental considerations apart: surely, when the time comes to transfer the booty from car boot to kitchen it's easier to carry 2 or 3 bags than to try to disentangle the handles of 7 or 8? Even with only two I often find I've picked up one bag by only one side.
Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised, though - between us we get through a staggering 13 billion bags a year. That's over 200 for every man, woman and child on these islands. The consequences for landfill and for wildlife (who are sometimes unwise enough to try to eat them) are devastating.
It doesn't have to be that way, though, and maybe soon it won't. Free plastic bags at the checkout are a rarity on the continent. Ireland put a tax on them and saw usage drop 90% virtually overnight. The switch to bringing your own is easy enough; you can already acquire long-life bags at most if not all the supermarkets, then all you have to do is remember to take them with you. It's an easily acquired habit, to go with remembering to take your wallet; nobody seems to find that too difficult.
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