Tim Robson

Writing, ranting, drinking and dating. Ancient Rome. Whatever I damn well feel is good to write about.

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On Carrier Bags

Robson Towers
October 07, 2015 by Tim Robson in Words

And so the carrier bag charge hits England. We now pay, with some (okay many and confusing) exceptions, 5p for a lightweight carrier bag.

As someone who always brings his own reusable bags to the supermarket I have mixed feelings on this. As a committed, old-school environmentalist (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) if the charge leads to a reduction in the thoughtless use of plastic carrier bags and tilts the population to more sustainable solutions, then instinctively I approve. Wasteful consumption, especially of the harmful and avoidable type, like plastic carrier bags, needs to be reduced. I want dolphins to swim free. Who doesn't?

But as a libertarian, I note sadly the demise of 'nudge' and the rise of 'compulsion'. What do I mean by this? Well - and I hate to keep using my TESCO Clubcard points as an example, petty I know, but illustrative - formerly supermarkets used to give you 'green' points on their loyalty schemes. I used to get a Clubcard point every time I reused my own bag. With the charge, this has now gone. 

The shift has been to sanction force from the state to change behaviour. This to me is always a regrettable and last ditch policy option. Doubly so when, as I have done, you research the genesis of the carrier bag charge. It was sanctioned by a statutory instrument in Parliament this year, enabled by The Climate Change Act 2008 and, depressingly, mandated by an EU Directive from 1994 which dictated that all states must have a plastic bag charge by 2018. 

It's sad that the UK Parliament has become a branch office of a larger supranational body. Sad also that the good angels of our behaviour can't be trusted to do the right thing. Supermarkets have for a while offered plastic bag recycling, in fact, all stretchy plastic recycling. Who knew? Why don't local authorities do this? It's not just bags; packaging is often plastic intensive and just ends up in landfill.

So - two cheers for the inevitable outcome (all studies show that plastic bag usage goes down after charges are introduced). One cheer deducted for the method - more costs / regulation and lazy human nature for forcing this action.

Not all environmentalists are lefties!

Cheers

Tim

(BTW - the best reusable bags I have are the colourful ones I bought in France at Super U a few years ago. Strong, long-lasting and very stylish! See them modelled above by, well, me.)

October 07, 2015 /Tim Robson
Recycling, Big Government
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