I am so sick of having the way I go about my life being dictated by fat cat, hypocritical politicians (let 's not forget the David Cameron publicity stunt, where he rode his bike to work with a car following behind him carrying his stuff) and and journalists (who bleat on about world poverty and climate change and yet all drive fast cars and take cocaine). Maybe if these "opinion formers" led by example, I might be inclined to take then seriously.

Ed, Brighton,

Tesco has just opened its biggest eco friendly store in Strewsbury.

It offers card board boxes on every check out..small and large sizes are offered

On its openning day I noticed I was the only person actually using the card board boxes on offer.

Then came the problem bit, the boxes do not fit in the trolly, so they have to be balanced on top of the trolly

Truthfully this does look a bit stupid

But at the time I was the only person in the store using them, and without a doubt it put all the other soff using them

Tesco speaks from experience,, you cannot beat a carrier bag in 2008

Would I still use a box,, the answer is yes

but now I go to my local sainsburies and they do not have boxes on offer

nb: One of the most successful companies in my town is Oswestry Waste Paper they recycle all the cardboard boxes, paying supermarkets a sum for there cardboard,,what is this company to do if there is no cardboard in commercial quantities.

Nicholas Iles, Oswestry, Shropshire

While i use plastic bags for some things I think it is rediculous for a person to take a plastic bac for a card that is already wrapped in one. I think the Big Eco Thinkers should be trying to find a way to use the thrown ones for good use. I use re-useable bags and if i dont bring them with me then I dont use anything. I think there must be a happy medium to this problem but we must stop all this "its thier fault, no its thier fault!" and get something done about it.

Heather Thomas, York , UK

This is the same old problem, "a survey said."
A survey means nothing!

No body has ever asked me, my wife, my family or friends if we would give up using bags.
It is the same with the this mentality that dictates that we must have football matches on TV at prime time.
Out of 40 friends of mine only 5 want to watch football.
So as a result of a largely bias survey we now how to bow to a minority again.

The truth is that people lie through their teeth in surveys.
When you are confronted by a person with a clipboard or on a phone we like to appear as if are the salt of the earth. Despite the fact that you drive a 4X4 on the school run every morning and shoot cats that dare step foot on your lawn that is covered in every type of chemical known to kill animals and children, when we are asked if we think 4x4s and growth chemicals should be banned and that all animals should be treated fairly, we answer yes while under our breathes we are screaming "you must be joking."

gary, Rochester, UK

It's absolute rubbish, starling, that you don't feel the need to have a go - tht's exactly what you are doing. And caring about the environment IS caring about yourself, because we all benefit from a clean environment.
Agree with the article , the debate has become totally hysterical. Still, I also agree with charging for bags at checkouts, as has been the case in Germany for decades - and people do use baskets instead, which look nice.
But the government should shut up about banning things, there are other solutions. How about they go after the manufacturers for using so much packaging in the first place. In Germany they introduced a law that obliges manufacturers to take back unwanted packaging via supermarkets, and given that rubbish collection costs a fortune, people left all those stupid toothpaste boxes at the checkout - hey presto, manufacturers came up with better ideas.

Freya, London,

whats wrong with recyling them? I use my old plastic bags as binliner, cushioning in packages, to line plant pots, to wrap presants, as sandwich bags, as rain coats for my children and pets etc.

be imaginative!

Jean, Liverpool,

As many sensible people are saying, we reuse our plastic bags for various things - in my case emptying cat litter trays, putting kids wellies in etc.
M&S are playing on the environmental and distracting us from the excess packaging issue which surely is something that the supermarkets are responsible for and ignoring rather than once again putting all the responsibility onto the consumer.
If I didn't use palstic bags I would buy bin bags. If I don't get masses of packaging, great. I won't be buying anything to repalce it.

Naomi, Shropshire,

Well done Melanie! Good for you! I am so heartily sick of all this PC Eco nonsense. It just makes me do the opposite. In my view it is just a good excuse to raise levies and taxes and the ‘Hairies’ aid and abet out of ignorance and naiveté.
Higher prices in the shops as a result of greater pilferage because branded bags aren’t used. Oh happy days.
All you PC save the Planet types get going on deforestation it is actually you lot who are largely responsible for much of it.
You might like to have it confirmed that much of the deforestation in the Philippines recently – and the consequent flooding – is as a direct result of the increased demand for paper bags instead of plastic. The paper manufacturers think the world has gone mad. To a man they admit and freely agree that paper is a lot less ecologically friendly than paper.
It deforests
Takes more energy to produce
Takes more water to produce
Uses more transport. 100,000 plastic bags = 1 lorry load. Same quantity in paper = 8 lorry loads.
I plastic bad incinerated releases enough energy to power a 60W light bulb for 45 mins.
Of course no one speaks of incineration in the UK, but it’s OK in Germany, Denmark and Sweden. The EU target for emission is 500 parts per million. The advanced incinerators are well below this already. Our clever London Mayor not only refused permission for an incinerator, but also thwarted plans for a much needed desalination plant. It of course didn’t occur to him that the latter could be powered by the former. Do you really have to be an ignoramus to be an eco warrior?

Harry Katz, Stanmore, Middx

Carrier bags? Pure laziness. In The Netherlands supermarkets have long since stopped dispensing these for free and everyone still manages to cover their plants, smelly gym clothes and what not. Why can't the Brits?

My suggestion: re-use the cardboard boxes in which goods are delivered to the supermarket and train the brain to remember that good ol' 'Bag for Life'.

Muriel Swijghuisen Reigersberg, London, UK

Our supermarket gives out self-destructible (after a few weeks) plastic bags.
So what is the problem?

fraser, aberdeen, uk

In other parts of the world (like here in Australia) we've gone for canvas and heavier nylon bags (you can even get them insulated for cold groceries) as a side-by-side option with the normal bags, but they're planning to get rid of them altogether. No, they're not as waterproof as a regular shopping bag, but who needs that many? Yes, they're useful, but in my sharehouse we have a Very large collection of old shopping bags that just grows bigger with time, never smaller. For all the rants about how useful plastic bags are, there are a thousand more people saying "yes, they're useful, but I always seem to find myself throwing lots of them out anyway."

Justin, Chancellor Park, Qld/Australia

Bringing your own shopping bag is OK when you only have a few things to get - but hardly efficient for the weekly grocery shopping trip.

The problem with the plastic shopping bag debate is that many of the 'facts' quoted against bags are in fact fiction. Bags do not kill marine life - at least not shopping bags - maybe bait bags from the fishing industry or garbage bags disposed at sea.

Getting back to the shopping trip - the main problem with the use of 'own bags' is the loss of efficiency at the checkout - this increases labour costs and hence prices.

If people were all to move to 'reusable' bags and, say, had a dozen or so of them in the car boot, Brits would be collectively carting around thousands of tons of additional material in their cars - burning more fuel and generating more polution - maybe we are better off with plastic shopping bags.

Banning plastic shopping bags does not really 'solve' any 'problem' - it just creates new ones.

Gerard van Rijswijk, Sydney, Australia

In Melbourne where it is compulsory to pick up doggie doo, where would the ladies walking their large dogs be without a throwaway plastic supermarket bag? It is one of the new mileniums amusing sights to see well dressed middle aged women with a dog on a leash in one hand and an undignified weighted white plastic bag hanging from the other - just like the bulls genitals we used to see when our fair City was younger. When a friend told me in 1972 he was going into the manufacture of white plastic singlet bags for supermarkets, I thought he must be kidding. Who would want them. He lives in the big house now and his wife pays someone else to walk their dog. There is merit in them bags!

Terry, Melbourne, Australia

Obviously never stored stuff in a Tesco's bag for a few months. They disintegrate and look like mice have transformed them into cosy nests. What's all the fuss about?

Angela, Penzance, UK

What a fuss about plastic bags (nasty things anyway). Many continental supermarkets have now stopped issuing them, and where's the problem? People simply bring their own shopping bags with them, as they always did in the past. And, as to the bags being 'free' - yes, free advertising for the supermarkets.

Andrew May, De Panne, Belgium

Great to see so many readers thinking outside the bag!

Doug, Basel, Switzerland

I agree a most ridiculous article. I kept wondering if it was a joke? Yes, a "me me" society (which Tesco's represents) will support free plastic bags.

They are ugly, common looking, dreadful for the environment and basically an eyesaw.

When I see a smartly dressed woman or man carrying such a bit of tat around I feel it reveals a great deal about that person. Of their personal taste and style and also of their general laziness towards our world. It is really no big deal to carry around a foldable, good looking bag which is better for the environment.

Bring on the death of the plastic bag!

KELLY, HK,

I'm amazed at some of the comments on here. In summary, some people seem to be saying: "I'm going to inflict a painful unnecessary death on a wild sea animal I'll never meet just to annoy those with more compassion than me." Incredible! Do you realise what that makes you look like?

Get a grip, folks, all that's being asked is that we use and dispose of these bags more responsibly.

Adele Brand, North Downs,

Sainsbu used to have these "bags for life", large thick plastic bags with a thick piece of card at the bottom. One of those would have the same carrying capacity as four plastic bags. Can't Tesco do the same?

Michael, Edinburgh,

Saying that supermarket carrier bags last a thousand years is a complete myth, they start to fall apart after approx. 10 years.

Michael Cawood, Wrexham, Wales, UK

It would be wonderful to see the face of whoever wrote this article take a trip to Naples in Italy and shovel a few tonnes of plastic bags from in front of her front door and from the school where her children go to school. Priceless!

Chris, Rome, Italy

This government has only one focus and purpose only: to raise taxes by any means possible. Think for a moment and you'll see how this latest initiative will serve that purpose.

John Thompson, Reading, Berkshire

Very much enjoyed the article - of course it's slightly tongue-in-cheek but makes its point very well.

Not entirely sure why plastic bags should be singled out for a minimum price when there are a myriad of other things that cause far worse environmental damage that have no 'minimum' price on them. Also begs the question of who would get the extra revenue - Gordon and his extravagent cronies?

And if I've got to pay 5p for a bag, then it better be twice as thick as those we currently get, with a more comfy handle and if possible, a set of wheels! Now that really would do wonders for the environment.

David, London,

I lived in Germany for 36 years. I have never known a time when plastic bags were given out for free at supermarkets. It has nothing to do with eco evangelism; it's just no big deal. A mater f habit, and breaking bad ones. Britons are simply spoiled silly and now they want to take away plastic bags: WAAAAHHHH!

By the way, the other day i was at Tesco and peeked into shoppers' trolleys. No kidding, 8 out of 10 customers had brought their own bags.

sharon, estbourne,

Thanks Melanie for a bit of common sense.
A pox on the eco gestapo and don't forget that The Mail was instrumental in whipping up the panic about the MMR vaccine.
I took my lunch to work in a used Tesco bag then the next day collected the ash from the fire in it.
I read that when they banned supermarket bags in Eire the sales of bin liners quadrupled

Jim Dye, Fadmoor,

If the Co-op can use plastic bags which they claim are 100% degradable and still carry their advertising ,why can't the Giant Supermarkets do the same.

D. Duggan, Banbury, UK

Invent a biodegradable plastic bag - problem solved.

James, London,

The green movement is a thinly veiled excuse to tax, ban and control

Gavin, London, UK

If plastic bags were banned. I would have to buy them to line my waste bin. Please tell me are supermarkets going to stop selling plastic bags.? Is Mr Brown going to ban the sale of bin liners. A friend who does not use plastic at all has maggots in her wheelie bin. She then uses insecticide to get rid of the maggots. How eco friendly is that !

psaunders, Cambridge,

With attitudes this like we will get nowhere! Stating reasons such as ease and conveinience just show how selfish out society is - nothing will ever change if our expectation and attitude doesn't. It is riduculous to argue that we should keep the plastic bag - which, as we all know, contributes to environmental issues that ultimately leave us without a planet to use plastic bags on - for reasons of ease, how can people not see this?! As for eco-medals (!) for plastic bag users..oh dear..

rebecca, london,

Thank you for such a good, sensible article. All this had to be said in response to a ridiculous and small-minded campaign. Don't count on any sense of humour or common humanity from the green lobby though - they never acknowlege any viewpoint other than their own.

Austin, London,

All the plasic bags we get from supermarkets are reused. Many are used to line the kitchen bin. If we did not use supermarket bags we would have to buy bin liners, which are plastic. And no, we are not going to put organic refuse in an unlined kitchen bin, for reasons of hygene and smell. Other plastic bags are reused until they have deteriorated so as to be unusable. When we use the car to shop we use heavy duty reusable plastic bags from a variety of supermarkets, but it is simply not practicable to carry these all the time. As for the South African plastic litter problem, this is a function of the antisocial behaviouf of the locals who do not mind messing up their own streets.

Andrew, London, UK

In northern Italy plastic bags at the supermarket are charged with a tax (5 euro cent) in most cities since more than 5 years.
What's the problem?
People learned to re-use them several times, so less plastic bags around and less impact on the environment.
If something is free people are encouraged to pick up it also when they really don't need it.
So you could have all the advantages of plastic bags while limiting the plastic pollution of our planet.
Obviously you finally put those bags in a the recyclable plastic bin or, if you prefer, you can pick up at the supermarket a paper bag at the same price or (if you are very smart) use a reusable cotton bag.Waterproofing cotton is a bit easier than building a nuclear fusion reactor.

Riccardo Bianchini, Cremona, Italy

Funny how the climate change denying flat earthers come out of the woodwork on this one. Other countries have been charging for bags for years - it DOES reduce their use, it DOES improve the environment, and it DOES reduce carbon emissions. Why should it be any different here?

Andrew Dale, London,

The plastic, disposable, non degradable bag is one of the greatest inventions eh? What a load of nonsense.

What a ridiculous article. What filters clearly through the words is the selfish, lazy, disposable culture of convenience we have sadly inherited from middle class America that is aiding in the rapid destruction of this planet. "Oh well who cares where this bag goes, or what cost it has to the environment as long as it saves me a few seonds of hassle. Now I'll just load up my oversized 4*4 that is clearly built for off road terrain and drive it back along the perfectly flat road to my perfect little house."

Think about what sort of world you want to hand over to the next generation. Cut down the needless packaging and disposable bags! We go through 17 billion bags year and nobody seems to bat an eyelid, that figure is nothing short of disgusting and adopting the sort of attitude shown by the author of this article will only ensure nothing EVER changes!

Jimbo, Edinburgh,

Well I agree with this article, Tesco is a weathervane for society, cheap barn kept chickens - sold out in hours, free plastic bags - still used.

I am tired of various groups telling me how I should and shouldn't live my life, if I want to use plastic bags I will, environmentally there are much bigger problems, in fact I am going to construct a raft from used plastic bags to save me when the flooding comes, then we will see who is laughing (it will be me laughing at all the people who did not construct a raft from plastic bags and have subsequently drowned on account of the flooding)

William Thompson, London, England

None of the environmenetal arguements are ironclad, either for or against whatever is being targeted. Plastic bags are derived from the world hydrocarbon base and each such in a landfill is, effectively, sequestered for max. 1000 yrs. That means that the carbon base used in manufacture was not diverted to fuels which would be oxidized to generate CO2. The long life in landfills means that those plastics will not be biologically degraded (to produce CO2 and other volatiles) in our time, or when there is still an abundance of hydrocarbon. In the case of landfill plastic waste, the above argument is dubious as well, as those landfills will likely be mined for valuable products within the current century. A certain element of society will find something to discard out the window, regardless. If we need a target for environmental movements, let us consider biofuels, which can not be countenanced save to subsidize a certain class of farmers.

Charles Dorworth, Saltspring Island, BC CANADA

The supermarkets give them out for free because they're branded. It's advertising.

And, Paul, the Chinese have actually reduced their plastic bags so drastically recently that one of the main producers there is about to go out of business.

John Moseley, London,

In defence of the plastic bag:
Nothing is better for picking up dog poo;
they make great small bin liners;
and, if you've ever tried carrying more than one paper bag (with the tearaway handles and the bottom giving out, tins of beans falling out, on the tube or on the bike, up the stairs to the second-floor flat), you'll say dubious environmental benefit be damned.

If people would reuse/recycle the bags, rather than throwing them out, would there be such a problem? If you're worried about carbon footprints, try consuming less in the first place. Take public transport and carry a couple of plastic bags home, rather than a boot full of groceries packed in paper bags. Or purchase the stylish cloth carrier bags to demonstrate your environmental awareness and superiority over the rest of us. But remember, the manufacture of any type of carrier has an impact.

Jim the Expat, Shropshire in exile, Wisconsin, USA

Can the reusable ones be recycled?

Also, why not use calapsable boxes, you can get them easily, they fold flat, hold 20kilos and you can use them for moving house as well! Everyone buys reusable bags, 'ah they are so environmentally friendly', but why? Cause they are made from recycled material, but so are the majority of plastic bags...

Chris, London, UK

Hardly. Melanie should see the mountain of plastic bags we've acquired in our flat. 8 of us and none making enough of an effort to reuse? 6 months has already filled a pair of bin liners with them.

Banning them isn't the way to go. Forcing them to be biodegradable is however.

peter, york, uk

The Daily Mail is concerned about the environment, green issues and all things ecological, Its the crusade of the week at the moment. Do they increase their "Carbon Footprint" (new buzzword" by flying newspapers to holiday resorts so that plastic bag carrying british holiday makers can read them on the beach at increased prices, or do they print them in the country so increasing pollution there?
We use the bags in the peddle bin. Either that or we have to buy plastic bags for the same function.

DR , Bristol,

Some people think that having plastivc bags will lock the carbon away and hence reduce global warming. Please join up your thinking. The bags weren't going to be fuel, they came from oil and take fossil fuels to produce and also emit volatil organic compounds during production, some of which contribute to global warming. What is the problem here with plastic bags is, like a lot of plastics, there is little way to dispose of them except to landfill. In a lot of cases, it's not economic to recycle but it does surprise me why more aren't burnt as a fuel source (sorry people, fuel-fired power is here to stay - I work in the power industry and nobody in this who does believes you can do without such stations - no one. and this not partisan. Ask any engineer - they will agree). A waste stream that produces energy is practical. And if this seems like dirty incineration, I give you coal - hardly the cleanest fuel.

John, Knutsford, UK

Am I the only person on the plabnet who noticed the indian PM and the Chinese leader recently state publiclty that their nations will not be part of the global warming debate as their respective countries did not make the problem in the first pkace and if this philosophy is to be believed, what will be the point of banning plastic bags etc in the west in the face of the world's two biggest populations taking such a stance.

Paul, Phuket, Thailand

I'm sick of all this eco scare-mongering. People tend to reuse plastic bags - I know we use them for all of the above and more. Old plastic bags we don't want to use we recycle. Charging 5p for a bag won't stop people using them - it will just line the pockets of the large supermarkets even more!

Angea, London, England

I rate Ms Reid with those who read the one and only article which said global warming didn't exist and chose to ignore what all other scientists were saying as that might mean changing the way she lives (perish the thought!).

I worked on the tills in Sainsburys in the 1970s. For those who didn't bring their own purpose made shopping bags (and we all had them) we charged 4p a time for carrier bags, which were strong brown paper. We also packed them with military precision to get as much into them as possible (instead of one loaf per plastic carrier). Why on earth can't we just return to this? It worked perfectly well then, and no one even murmured about the cost.

As for Tesco as a moral leaders? Their buying up vacant sites and holding them land banks for years to prevent competitors moving in on their territory, their out of town stores and their cut throat pricing are killing off our town centres and destroying independent traders. I have nothing but contempt for them.

anna, Kendal, UK

Charging for bags will not diminish their use . If the average weekly bill for food ,for a family of four, is over a hundred pounds 50p for ten bags will not raise an eyebrow. Where will the increased profits go from the sale of these bags go ? Not on environmental issues that's for sure .
This is obviously the result of a very good lunch between the CEO of Tesco and the Prime Minister . I think Mr Brown is already lining up opportunities as a fall back which will follow the demise of nu-labour at the next election.

Nick Dixon, Sutton Coldfield, England

What, in UK you don't pay for plastic bags. We have been paying for them since I can remember. And it has nothing to do with environmentalism, but plain old capitalism. Everything has a price.

Igor, Ljubljana, Slovenia

I cannot understand why we are still using non-degradable plastic bags, when a leading UK firm Symphony Environment has over the past seven years made very large investments to create and develop an additive which, when added to normal polymers at the manufacturing stage, renders them oxo-biodegradable.
Oxo-biodegradable plastic bags pass the tests prescribed by American Standard 6954 and they degrade to carbon dioxide, water and biomass within a few months on land or in water leaving no fragments or harmful residues. When we have the technology, why can't we make use of it to deal with the issue.

Shaf, London , UK

I cannot understand why we are still using non-degradable plastic bags, when a leading UK firm Symphony Environment has over the past seven years made very large investments to create and develop an additive which, when added to normal polymers at the manufacturing stage, renders them oxo-biodegradable.
Oxo-biodegradable plastic bags pass the tests prescribed by American Standard 6954 and they degrade to carbon dioxide, water and biomass within a few months on land or in water leaving no fragments or harmful residues. When we have the technology, why can't we make use of it to deal with the issue.

Shaf, London , UK

Symphony Environment, has all the answers to this problem, it seems there is no real will to solve the problem

Shaf, London , UK

>"Meanwhile, the Sun will continue its inevitable NATURAL >cycle." Jay, London.

.. yes page three keeps your verisimilitude intact.

BTW, how do you know there was an ice-age millions of years ago. Which scientists have your faith on this issue and which scientists are 'unwashed hippies'? Is membership of the groups mutually exclusive?

Paul Carden, London,

First of all, plastic bags are NOT free. they are included in the price of the goods, as an overhead, along with heating/light, salaries etc. Secondly, plastic bags are useful for a number of other things, such as picking up dog poo (us responsible dog owners) and in lieu of a bin in both the kitchen and our caravan. We are busy stockpiling bags for use in the future, and will probably not run out for a while yet.

David Leslie, Perth, Scotland

I simply pay for the bag, hasn't stopped me using them. I also re-use them and then when worn out throw them in the yellow bin. I have never fed them to dolphins or any other cute creature. I am not going to be conned by the likes of the Daily Mail or enticed into a street brawl by fanatic global warming preachers who want to attack my way of life. I find the former simply arch and cynical manipulators and the latter seekers of an excuse to persecute non-believers.

john walter, bonn, germany

Carrier bags may have lasted a thousand years once, but that was before most UK supermarkets went bio-degradable. Now, they often don't even make it home, dropping your shopping along the way. Leave one in a cupboard for a few years, and you'll find a load of flakes in its place

Richard, Bexhill, UK

I can thoroughly recommend the bags that Heffers of Cambridge use. Being designed to carry textbooks, they're sturdy enough to use for groceries once or twice a week - for years. The record so far is ten years for one particularly heroic bag.

Ian Kemmish, Biggleswade, UK

Household rubbish which cannot be recycled either has to go in a large bin liner, or several plastic bags. What's the difference? Our household never throws empty plastic bags away.

Decorator's tip: If you're using water-based paint, wrap your paint-soaked brush in a plastic bag, air tight, for use the next day. Brushes soaked in oil-based paint can be stored upright in a container of plain water, not spirits, overnight.

Marcos, London, UK

The real point has been missed here. The bigger issue is eco fascism, where the green lobby and others are driving their own agenda and naysayers get shouted down.

Banning patio heaters is a good example. What happened to freedom of choice? What next - electric fires, TVs, dishwashers, hot water, cars etc?

Another example - with the congestion charge a hint of things to come. My 10 year old large engined car makes me a pariah and I can see massive financial penalties coming over the horizon. However, I only do a few thousand miles a year (so overall emissions are low) and the cost of scrapping a perfectly functional vehicle and replacing it with a new car (and all the related carbon impact of manufacturing, delivery etc) never seems to feature in the debate.

We do need to address our impact on the planet but the eco fascists have seized the debate. Some common sense needs to prevail and the Government needs to take a lead via properly evaluated strategies.

Fred, UK,

Litter became such a huge problem in South Africa that people started referred to the plastic bag as their new national flower. Then laws were passed to discourage the use of plastic shopping bags, and the environment is noticeably better off for it. In America shops still double-bag!! If other countries can do it, so should the rest of the world - every little bit would help!

Belinda Nicoll, Raleigh, USA

5p is meaningless. only the wealthy can afford to drive their 4x4s to m&s and load up on their overpriced and overpackaged goods. behaviour will not change. a tidy sum will be made, though. I wonder where it will go? not homes for tired porpoises, I'm guessing.

people need to get into the habit of taking bags with them when they go shopping. it should be second nature, like taking your wallet. if supermarkets wanted to encourage people, they should have doormen who will refuse entry to anyone without a bag. personally, I will be taking my tesco bags to m&s.

and if the government wants to interfere in something (hello again, gordon), it should monitor excessive packaging and fine supermarkets. then again, if we are going to come down hard on waste, gordon may have to fire himself and 90% of the public sector. he only recycles ideas and announcements, in new packaging.

jem, london, uk

Plastic bags are inanimate objects and as such are incapable of doing anything. It is the people who use them that are the cause of the problem - the so called 'use it and chuck it' brigade - and it is their habits that need to be addressed. Tackle that effectively and you not only overcome the problem of plastic bags, but also the much wider issue of discarded beer cans, styrofoam cups, food containers, wrappers and the like; that serve to litter our streets and disfigure our countryside and beaches.

Don't fine people for dropping litter; when they are caught give them a broom, stick them in overalls for two weeks and have them clean the streets under strict supervision. Lee Kuan Yue introduced this measure in Singapore in the early 70's and it was applied regardless of whether offenders were rich or poor, local or foreign. It worked!

As for supermarkets charging for plastic bags, they already do. The bags never have been free.

Richard Crow, Warsaw, Poland

Nobody really knows whether plastic bags last 1,000 years, as the only way to find out is to wait until they have rotted away, or for 1,000 years, whichever is the less.

Frank Upton, Solihull,

I do my best for the environment, but I don't feel the need to have a go at people who are less environmentally-conscious. Why do they then feel the need to have a go at people like me? What gives them the right? There is NOTHING wrong with caring for the enviroment, ie caring for something other than oneself.

Anyway, I'm astonished at all this yelling about plastic bags. Other countries stopped giving free bags away years and years ago, without the need of political intervention. The supermarkets thought of it all by themselves.

So you use the bags as bin liners? Buy one then, 5p is still much cheaper than buying a roll of liners.

starling, Lancaster,

I wonder whether future generations with no petrochemical raw materials will apreciate our landfill sites as 'plastic mines' from which they can extract and recycle these carrier bags.

James, London,

I've always loved plastic bags, using them for everything so I was shocked when the supermarkets here in Luxembourg got rid of free plastic bags about a year ago. You can still buy them for about 15p each, but of course the best thing about plastic bags is that they are free. When you have to pay for them they don't seem so useful any more. Yes, it is more inconvenient than it used to be but, hey, it is way down on the list of things inconvenient in my life...and probably anyone elses if they have a life. Anyway, true plastic bag afficianados are a resourceful lot by definition and are probably best able to adapt to the change.................

Patrick, Luxembourg,

mik, gloucester

"I am not a enviromentalist but it does not take a rocket scientist to see that human impact on this planet is becoming very substantial and needs attention"

Somewhere between an environmentalist and a rocket scientist is the person who appreciates that human impact on the planet is not all bad, even though there may be a bad side to everything that we do. This intermediate person will have worked out that serious judgments are made by considering both the pluses and the minuses of a given action, evaluating ALL the consequences, not just those which dovetail in nicely with an existing prejudice.

The intermediate person will conclude that mainstream behaviour never, voluntarily, addresses the real issue of any problem. Much "cooler" to pretend it's not there, hoping it goes away. And if, by chance, it does come to the forefront, then make some meaningless pain-free gesture with the pretence that one is taking serious action.

Hence the plastic bag hullabaloo.

Simon Stephenson, Windermere, UK

On the one hand the plastic bags do not disintegrate for 1000 years (the greenies). By the same token carbon is locked up for 1000 years and cannot add to the CO2 footprint. Who is right?
Personally I do not believe in the 1000 years - who has been around long enough to obtain reliable data (extrapolation outside the data range is dangerous)?

Also the biodegradable bag much loved by some but this releases the CO2 to increase the footprint.

Common lets have some rationality in this discussion.

M. Cawdery, Portadown, UK

Brilliant article. I positively refuse to recycle anything and will not be told by some sad green unwashed hippy not to use plastic bags.

And until some tree hugger can tell me what cars were driving and planes flying and plastic bags were lying around millions of years ago to cause the 'global warming' that ended the last ice age I will continue to fly, drive and use plastic as much as I can.

Meanwhile, the Sun will continue its inevitable NATURAL cycle.

Jay, London,

Thank god someone has had the nerve to question the current crazy attacks on one of the most useful things that man has produced for tens of years. Our household certainly uses as many plastic bags as we can get hold of. The present state of the collection of rotting houselod rubbish has now been reduced by councils to the legal minimum of once a fortnight. These bags contain the rotting rubbish which would otherwise polute the bins and the roadway when they are collected. It is the disposal of these bags by careless humans that is the problem.

David Nammory, Liverpool,

It must have been a quiet day at the office when this was written. Cut down on plastic bags, they are a nuisance everywhere.

Oh and Tesco charge for bags in Ireland, so are they trying to score one against M & S, rather than take the moral highground.

Mark, Brighton,

Amazing, I am not using plastic bags but I am still alive!! You wouldn't guess from this article. Maybe, I am just the lucky one.

Ruggero, Recoaro Terme, Italy

Melanie is really saying that her convenience is more important than other considerations such as the environment. Her other objections don't hold water. OK, fabric bags aren't waterproof. But how often do you walk any distance through heavy rain with your shopping? Wet swimming kit can be wrapped in a towel and smelly gym kit can go in a kitbag. Nappies take long enough to degrade without wrapping them in another layer of plastic - why not use washable ones? Why not be honest - this is not about plastic bags being irreplaceable, it's about not giving two hoots about the environment.

H Grant, NRW,

Of course the other great advantage of plastic bags is that they lock up the carbon from oil for a very long time thus preventing the CO2 from their breaking down getting into the atmosphere.

More plastic bags equals less global warming.

Isn't that what the environmentalists want?

Martin, Isle of Skye,

At last some common sense. Charging 5p or more for plastic bags is a cynical commercial gesture when the bags actually cost less than 1.5 p each. All alternatives do NOT tick all the environmental, ethical and social boxes Plastic bags are reusable, recyclable, inert, waterproof, non absorbent, lightweight, hygienic, material efficient, ethically made , relatively thin, and inexpensive. No other product comes close and to top it all, they don't cost the poor, the elderly or the disadvantaged one penny. This concept of them being a one trip bag is promulgated by idealists who want us to live in caves. All other alterntives cause far more damage to the environment as they are heavier , bulkier, unhygienic and emit carbon dioxide and methane if and when they eventually degrade.
Plastic bags don't cause litter - irresponsible disposal by humans causes litter. Ireland's increased rat population since their tax was intoduced is just one of many unintended consequences of their stupid tax.

J Neil Young, Glasgow,

Co op bags are biodegradable. They disintigrate in 6 months to 3 years. Why don't all the supermarkets give these out? End of problem if they did.

Chris, Worcester,

Our local supermarket; Edeka; sold us reuseable plastic coated cloth bags with their logo printed on the side. They are rectangular and have handy bottle holders in the corners and a removeable hard base. I shop at other supermarkets but always have my reuseable bags with me. they fit in the trolley and others are in the boot of my car. When I have shopped I pack in the car park (unless it's raining). My father uses plastic folding boxes and does a similar thing packing in the car park.

Caution: Sarcasm... mybe we should ask people if they are going to throw the bags in the street after use and refuse to give them platic bags: sarcasm ended...

plastic is not the problem, people are the problem. The earth will be better off without them, the standard state of the Earth is either a fireball or an iceball, we are just here for a short time. People are the cancer of the planet, we use and abuse so don't be surprised when it all goes to hell in a hatbox... :)

Tim Dowd, Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany

We shouldn't ban plastic bags at supermarkets, we need to ban supermarkets, then we'll get somewhere, ecologically.

Neale Adams, Vancouver, Canada

This is the most rediculous article i have read in along time.
I am not a enviromentalist but it does not take a rocket scientist to see that human impact on this planet is becoming very substantial and needs attention
We should evolve and find better alternatives for plastic bags (such as ones that degrade quickly), and reduce wastage.

mik, gloucester,

i have to agree this is a ridiculous article: bags have been charged for - not banned - here in south africa for a few years and it's made a great difference to the number of them blowing around the place. i don't think the policy was brought in in order to prevent them being used at all, but to reduce them being handed out excessively and thus to make the place look better and reduce the resources needed for collecting them up. people still opt to buy a couple of bags for their shopping - though quite a lot bring their own - but they're not going to ask for six or eight (as they might have got for free) when they only need two.

barbara morrow, pretoria, south africa

This is the most sad and distrubing article that I have come across in a long time.
What are you actually saying? We should use fewer bags - but it would be an afront to our 'convenience' to have this imposed. Obviously you are not a porpoise or in fact a landfill operator.
Paying for bags is actually not saying you can't have them. It's just it will cost you. Just as it costs us all already. (I'm actually paying for your plastic bag when I go through the checkout with my calico bag because it's in the cost of my goods).
We have the same issue going on in Australia, where we use 6.9 billion bags a year, that's 7,000 per minute. In the big scheme of things, in our oil-dwindling world, it's time we showed we can think outside the box.
How hard is it to bring your own bag and set an example of a new way?

Nick Ray, Melbourne, Australia

A very foolish article by Melanie Reid.

Her argument is a complete straw man, since no one is proposing to ban carrier bags. But since there is competitive pressure on supermarkets to hand them out free, it makes good sense to have a counterblancing legal pressure setting a minimum price of say 5p. That way, there will still be plenty of bags for all the uses mentioned, just not the insane surplus we are drowning in now. By all accounts it works well in Ireland.

As with many things, enough is as good as a treat; too much is worse than none.

G Adamson, London,

Our grocery store sells reusable bags, which I love. They are sturdy, but fold flat. Plastic bags are so thin, I get about 20 per trip, with 2 or 3 items in each. The paper bags are a bit better, but the reusable ones have handles and can hold 20 pounds and be filled to the top. That saved aggravation is worth returning to my car when I forget to bring them in. I still use the free paper and plastic on occasion since I reuse them at home, but am happy to have a small supply instead of a huge pile. I don't do it for the environment, just my personal sanity.

Tina, Columbus, Oh

Plastic bags are one of the great inventions.

Eco bags are good for carrying enormous amounts of piffle

Brian MacLeod, Dingwall, Scotland

Plastic bags can be used in many ways. My Grandad had a great sense of humour and decided to have a joke at his relatives expense from beyond the grave.

After he died, as you may be able to imagine, people turned up to claim various articles from his home and having got a decent haul they needed something to put "their claims" into.
Plastic bags were found neatly folded up under the stairs but a number of items may well have have got damaged as he had carefully slit open the bottoms of the bags!

Well done Grandad!

graham, St. Albans, uk