yet another con
another stealth tax
plastic bags found in the ocean is due to gross untidiness
and should be dealt with accordingly
make the bags bio-degradable

geoffrey elderfield, southsea,

I work with Whales and Dolphins, in a relatively pristine environment, HOWEVER, we regularly see whales, dolphins and turtles with plastic bags stuck on them, and even on one occasion a whales calf had its head stuck in a carrier bag, blocking its airways.

Surely, it is not necessary to have scientific evidence for this. It is FACT that plastic bags are polluting our water ways and being washed out into the sea. Reducing the number of carrier bags used is a simple way to help the environment, and something even the smallest individual can do to actually help make a difference and when there are many alternatives, why do we even need to bother with them?!

Lauren, Spain,

Yes, this plastic bag campaign is ill-thought out. Many people, have to use plastic bags for their rubbish. This is the case in our apartment buildings. I contacted the council about a year ago pointing out the problem. I pointed out that there was pressure on people not to use plastic bags, and yet they were needed for our communal rubbish bins. I was told that the only thing I could do was buy my own plastic bags to use for my rubbish! If you ask me, this campaign only benefits the retailers - they save money on the previously free plastic bags. Meanwhile, customers have to pay the cost of a so-called environmentally friendly policy imposed on them by people who have obviously not thought it through properly.

Mary, London, UK

I made grocery bags out of my old t-shirts. The risk of them ripping is slim to nil' and i'm not utilizing a product that is dependent on petroleum for its production. No matter the claims, little harm can come from using LESS plastic bags.

Christine, Chicago,

Plastic bags, as the article states, are not the source of environmental imbalance.
Paper bags are a worse option by far; they are dyed in chemicals to get that brownish color; they have glue at the bottom which attracts cocroaches, an they are bulkier than plastics. Unlike plastics they can not be downgauged (made thinner in thickness) since they would not hold the weight.
It is time we clarify this fallacy about plastic bags and really concentrate on what does the most damage to our environment: us, human beings acting irresponsibly with the resources we obtain.

Rafael Alvarado, Houston, Texas, USA

Many people actually re-use the plastic bags tp throw trash. If Government banned all types of plastic bags, then we will have to buy trash liners which are made from plastics too. Trash liners are thicker and consume more plastics.

Just an additional information, the new plastic resin technology is now using the ethane gas. Previously the ethane gas was just released to the air as a by-product of oil drilling. Actually the using of ethane gas to make plastic resins helps to reduce air pollution.

My point is: we have to reduce energy consumption. Use more public transports. Reduce the numbers of private cars. Have only 1 TV at home, 1 radio, 1 computer. Learn to share.

If we consume less oil, we will have less petrochemicals. If we don't make the petrochemicals into products, we might pollute the world with them, as they are the byproducts of the major production, i.e. fuel production.

Layminto Jubilee, Singapore, Singapore

Even if plastic bags do not harm animals on a great scale, there are still plenty of reasons to use fewer of them. They are made from petroleum products, and their production waste energy and gives off green house gases and pollution. They often end up in trees and roadsides, and spoil our views of nature.

Linda, Plano, USA

Linda Siefert, Plano, Texas

"A 1968 study of albatross carcasses found that 90 per cent contained some form of plastic but only two birds had ingested part of a plastic bag."

Plastic grocery bags were actually introduced in the mid-70s, almost ten years after this study. That fact alone makes your charge of poor science rather comical.

But apart from that, aren't there any more recent studies?

Rohan, Melbourne, Australia

I continually re-use my plastic bags until they break for everything from throwing out rubbish, to carrying my lunch in case of leaks, protecting clothes in my suitcase when I travel and even lining paint trays when I am home renovating so I can throw out the plastic bag with dried paint instead of washing paint down into the water supply. However, banning plastic bags would only be effective if they banned the production and SALE of ALL plastic type bags. If you prevent shops from handing out so-called "free" plastic bags for your shopping (which aren't free anyway, as they build in a cost onto grocery prices), there will still be available for purchase, bin liners and other types of plastic bags. So you end up paying more for a necessary part of the household requirement - ie plastic bags for your bin, etc etc. The shops win and the consumer loses - again. And are they going to ban all the plastic bags given out by clothing shops, with all their fancy advertising? I don't think so!

Donna, Sydney, Australia

HELEN
Animals do not have a problem on any great scale, it's the plastic ties & holders around beer cans, fishing tackle & the like, that cause real problems. Are you going to ban them ?
Biodegradable bags disintegrate quite qickly.

maggie millington, Brittany, France

I re-use my plastic bags, esp. as a protector for my books to/from work so they don't get damaged either by people or the rain while I've carried them. We haven't produced water-proof paper bags here in the states yet.
If someone wants to do something useful, how about releasing a study that reactionism can hurt more than it helps (see the decrease of female child-births in China, shortage of food and damage to economies for fairy-tale bio-fuels which aren't here yet), and preach education and real science - or just release a study that policiticans hot air causes more damage in many ways, from global climate change (aka seasons) to lowering of the global i.q.

Mark Paquette, Jersey City, NJ, USA

Gordon Brown will back any move to charge anyone (especially the English) for anything - look at his record - and the shops will jump at the chance to save money - it's all a con.

Marty, London, England

What I know is 30 years ago all the greenies were saying that if we don't stop living a developed lifestyle and live like people in a third world country, global cooling will lead to mass famine and death. Now those same people, again including a certain Erhlich who made the cooling predictions, are now telling us that we better start living like third world people or else global WARMING will kill everyone and lead to famine.

This is just the newest version of the leftie fascists telling us all how to live. Communism failed so they move onto Enviromentalism, aka envirofascism. From one of the most greenie dominated sites ever: "Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers the individual subordinate to the interests of the state, party or society as a whole." Add to that planet and you get greenism!

No one can say I'm wrong. Day by day more people see through your marxist rubbish. It will end soon. You fail yet again, wierdos.

Anan, Antwerp,

I love plastic bags. I reuse them all the time. I send my kids sandwiches and snacks in them, And I reuse my super market bags for a variety of things. To ban plastic bags is stupid.

Becky, mount pleasant, USA /south carolina

Why use ANYTHING that you don't need to? Use canvas bags for your shopping and only use plastic ones when you really need to (e.g. for 'messy' items that might leak). It's our excessive consumption in all forms - from the production of goods to the disposal of waste, as well as all the trasnportation that goes in between - that is behind many of the world's problems today.

Eloise Dortch, Perth, Western Australia

"The central claim of campaigners is that the bags kill more than 100,000 marine mammals and one million seabirds every year."

Is that really the central claim? really?

I don't use plastic bags because the production of them has many harmful bi-products to the environment. Also, They take a very long time to degrade. As in, every little piece of plastic produced within your lifetime will still be around when you die. Every piece of plastic that has ever been made is still around unless it has been incinerated. (While plastic has only been produced since the beginning of the last century, this is still a pretty long time.)

Plastic can be useful in things such as medical devices (IVs, syringes, etc.). There are certain things which we need plastic for BUT… our society has gotten a little silly with its massive overproduction of plastic. I can’t even buy a deck of playing card without it being wrapped up in plastic. There is no necessary reason for that. It’s a waste.

Lyndon, Tallahassee,

The UK is an island. We're running out of space to bury all this plastic.

Steg, Banbury, UK

If plastic bags are preferred by consumers over, let's say, paper bags, they are no more wasteful or ridiculous than the product they are carrying. If mr. Bethlehem doesn't want to use plastic bags it's in his own birthright to do so, as well as spreading the message. If however, special-interest groups try to get their subjective preferences into government policy it's a whole different story. Because, essentially, government is per definition wasteful and ridiculous (which is, if it did not exist, not wanted or preferred by many people; the people who do prefer it could always opt for being voluntary slaves).

Arend, NL,

I suppose 100,000 thousand birds is a lot. But did you know that approximately 1 BILLION birds die in the US by flying into buildings (they don't see the glass).

ref: http://www.birdsandbuildings.org/faqs.html#4

That is to say for every 1 bird supposedly killed by a plastic bag, 10,000 are killed by flying into buildings.

Whatever...when I'm asked for paper or plastic, I say, "plastic, please."

Bill Wangard, Evanston, IL

I bought a wicker basket at Walmart today and the cashier was very annoyed when I (politely) requested no bag. I've had this experience before. Why do many cashiers think that it is their birthright to give you as many plastic bags as possible?At the supermarket, often only one or two items are placed in each bag. People often leave with 15 or more bags. Regardless of the effect on the environment, it is simply wasteful and ridiculous.

J., Bethlehem, PA USA

But, but... the vast majority of scientists agreed... it's settled science ...

Dave Smith, Olympia , USA/Washington

Anyone old enough should remember that it was the "ENVIRONMENTALIST" that gave us plastic bags. Their logic was "we were destroying forest" to make grocery bags and bags could be make from a more readily available and cheaper source "petroleum".
As usual, they got what they wanted but the consequences were not what they expected, so now it's everyone else's fault and they get to play the good guys "again" by banning what they pushed for in the first place.

Oscar, Santa Barbara,

In a couple of years there won't be any oil to make plastic bags and the problem will solve itself.

Jim, NYC,

Reminds me of the crisis of disposable diapers back in the late 80's! Disposable diapers were going to destroy the world! Cloth diapers were man's salvation, and made a comeback for awhile. Until people began to realize that cleaning the cloth diapers meant all that nice waste down the drain, as well as more water use, increase fuel waste due to new diaper services springing up and then, of course, the cloth diapers had to be made somewhere and it cost more fuel to ship a truckload of cloth diapers than it did a truckload of light disposable ones!
Just another stupid made up crisis! I am waiting for someone to actually come out and say the sky really is falling!

Mr Mike, williamsport, USA, PA

Regardless of whether they kill wildlife or not there are plenty of other sound enviornmental reasons to reduce usage of plastic bags.

Tesco and the CoOp use biodegradable bags why cant others do so (or be made do so).

The tax in Ireland was a good idea in theory but in a supreme act of idiocy it applies equally to biodegradable and non-biodegradable plastic

Mike, Antrim,

This is such a NON-ISSUE.

Anybody who ever takes ONE FLIGHT contributes more harm to the environment than a lifetime of using plastic bags sensibly, i.e re-using them a couple of times until they're holed.

People want to think that if they

a) give up plastic bags, and
b) swap their light bulbs for low-energy ones

(oh, the pain)....then they'll be able to carry on being a 2-car family, taking one (two ? three ?!!) flights a year.

Ain't going to happen.

If you want to make a real impact, work on the MAJOR problems first (but, heh, they'll be the ones that hurt the most), leave the trivia like this to the end.

Unfortunately, we get the same message from government

a) it's OK to pollute the environment by flying as that helps the eeconomy (as though that's going to make a difference)
b) don't mind you having a car producing large amount of CO2, as long as you pay.
c) basically, do anything you like to environment as long as you pay in tax.

Clive, Surrey,

paper bags, both renewable and recyclable.

fred, madawake, ha

What is wrong with buying a shopping bag or basket or string net bag? It is only because of the packaging we need so much space to fit it in. Plastic bags are great but its better if we can keep that oil for more essential use. I think that recycling is a cop out for the real thing which is reuse. The Dutch return all glass bottles, jars, sauce bottles to the supermarket. All have deposits. Their plastic water bottles are very thick and are reused many times. Refundable deposits ensure return. Milk bottles had a very high return life. The plastic containers we all buy our milk in now could and should be made to be returned. How many beer bottles do you dump in your bin? how many bottles in every bar in britain make a one way journey. People used to take the egg boxes with them to buy eggs . The problem lies with the supermarkets. not designed for returnables. Reuse is better than refuse, cheaper, and creates more jobs. Buy less but better quality longer life products.

kenny livitt, hove,

Plastic bags are acceptable as long as they're good with barbecue sauce.

Duncan Renaldo, Seattle, USA

Don't you know that the "millions" of animals killed by plastic bags are buried alongside all the "millions" of people killed by second hand smoke...

RedneckRoyalty, Commerce, Mi

"Poor science" now that sounds familiar. Politicians making stupid decsions on policy based on stupid science. This is just the echos regarding global warming being man's fault.

John Adams, la habra, califonia

What abour that whale which the Daily Mail said died on a Scottish island two or three weeks ago with 23 plastic bags in its stomach? Didnt it die of the bags after all? Why hasnt your article mentioned this well-publicised case?

paulsdad, Oxford, uk

I have watched Spinner Dolphins using plastic shopping bags as toys. They swim with them on their dorsal or pectoral fins and pass them back and forth. They also interact with them in a very complicated ballet-like kind of game.

RJ, Highland, CAlifornia

Maggie Millington, how would making them biodegradeable stop animals from getting entangled in them? They don't biodegrade as soon as they've been used you know.

Helen, London,

Plastic bags are produced in such volume at such low weights they are an extremely efficient means for transporting goods from the store to the home. Most are then re-used as waste bin liners etc which would otherwise require the purchase of an alternative product with all the marketing, transport, packaging and production costs this would require.
Of course we can do without these bags because we will just use alternative means but that does not mean they will be more efficient. How many people get half way to the shop and then have to turnaround because they forgot the bags? Or buy the heavier gauge reusable ones and still throw them away!
The reality is there is no easy, simple solution to an overpopulated, over consuming and oil dependent world. Instead of messing around with plastic bags, hunting bans etc, we should be more concerned with illegal wars, famine and disease, child abuse, large cars, poor housing, cheap flights, excessive consumerism, failing schools etc

J Colwell, Norwich, uk

The solution is quite simple, make them biodegradable, end of problem.

maggie millington, Brittany, France

the biggest con was convincing us we needed billions of plastic bags in the first place. now we see them as some sort of right. shame on the Times for appeasing those who believe they are not responsable for the consequence of their own lazy overconsumerism. but you wont show this note anyway.

rich, alicante,

Gee, It is refreshing to hear government officials admonishing their own government for jumping on an enviro-fad based on flawed science. Can Man-Made Global Warming be next? One can only hope!

Scott, Philadelphia, USA

Of course we must do much more than giving up our carrier bags, but there are a number of reasons that bags are a good target for government attention.

Firstly, every family can easily adapt to using fewer carriers if they want to.

Secondly, when consumers get the message that plastic bags are harmful, they are more likely to understand why excessive packaging is a problem and encourage retailers to stop over packing their goods. They will perhaps check if plastic wraps are recyclable once they realise how long bags take to break down.

DS, London,

Well now more flawed evidence is being used no force us into increasing supermarket profits through paying for plastic bags it makes you wonder how much of the climate change evidence is real and how much is being trumpt up to justify extra tax.

Alistair, Peterborough, England

Jeff,
So which is it? Cutting down millions of trees to replace the plastic bags that are banned? All you are doing is transferring the issue to some other environmental niche.

The world is so down on itself that they chose to give Al Gore the Nobel Peace Prize when he has had nothing to do with peace anywhere. He has been disproven, but the real truths are ignored because people the world over are enjoying their misery. Now the plastic bags. I have alsways taken plastic bags when given the choice to save a tree branch that was taken to make a paper bag. Maybe we should make bags out of recycled paper only, but then what about the ink content getting into our oceans? Oh what to do.

Tom, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi

The issue about plastic bags (and other oil derivatives) is not that they kill wildlife but that they persist in the environment for so long.

This article seriously misses the point by undermining an important debate by focussing on a small part of the big picture.

R E, Berkhamsted,

In the US plastic bags are recycled to make beautiful warm fleeces and blankets which are very cheap to buy! I own several. In UK they are one of the very few things which are not accepted for recycling, so adding to landfill for ever.

Sue B, Teignmouth, UK

Plastic bags are a nuisance if your charged for them
less will be blowing around our streets
making it prettier(It works in Ireland).
As for waste just put it straight into your wheelie bin
and rinse out when collected.

Jose, London,

In the states with the weaker dollar and rising cost of oil recyling will become an even bigger part of our lives whether we are "green" or not. Big bulk stores like BJ's and Costco don't offer bags of any sort. It's not that they're trying to be green, it's because they are taking away any frill that adds to the price of the product. The shopping bags at the supermarket might seem "free" and of course the consumer doesn't pay corporate taxes either (joke).

Tom, West Hartford, CT

I save and reuse plastic bags, as do my relatives. They also serve to be good bin liners. Frankly, I do not know what the problem is. Too many people are are trying to look good and raise revenue by claiming greenie points; tax on fuel because of global warming, tax on tobacco (I don't smoke) and alcohol because they're bad for you, congestion charge, etc etc.

V.Lock, London,

So if you see all these plastic bags on the ground and in the trees, then why don't you just pick them up and put them in a garbage can so they can be disposed of properly. If you want things cleaned up, then I think just ought to start doing it instead of just passing on by and complaining.

Jackie, Buford, GA, USA

If our leaders couldn't even get a fairly simple thing like this right, why on earth should we believe them about the vastly more complex subject of global warming?

Charles, Swindon,

Plastic is the great nemesis. It just about never degrades.

Michael H. Brown, Palm Coast, fl

The last sentence is most important. If I didn't get the bags for free, I would have to buy them. They're extremely useful around the house, and not just for the next shopping trip.

M.C., Washington DC, USA

There is no mention in this article about the effects of plastic bags on sea turtles. But there is substantial evidence from necropsies that sea turtles, most of which are endangered species, ingest plastic bags after mistaking them for jellyfish.


http://www.seaturtle.org/mtn/archives/mtn107/mtn107p7.shtml

Jeff Cantin, Norton, Massachusetts

I also believe that paper bags are more preferable than plastic, mainly because they are bio-degradeable and recycleable. That being said, I'm very concerned about the huge mass of plastic waste floating in the Pacific. I assume this is generated from shipping mostly? Is there no replication of this in the Atlantic?

Jay L. Specht, Haughton, USA

Another absurd idea from the Snorkers of Westminster. I agree Plastic bags are a problem however the science has been around for many years to simply make them photo/biodegradeable so why don’t they enforce it?

Simon, Soton,

The left is scientifically illiterate and wouldn't know a sound scientific argument if it hit them between the eyes. Besides that, being of the left they clearly can't be interested in logic or empirical data.

Billy Barnett, HK,

Oil is used to make plastic.. Plastic bags (especially thin plastic bags) do not get reused.. therefore, its a waste.. a waste of oil/energy to produce the bags.. etc..

Ryan, Ottawa, Canada

Where's our champion of the earth Algore on this?

Pschneider, Pottsboro, Texas, USA

I have used my free supermarket bags as bin bags for years.
now I will have to buy bin/rubbish bags separately
Shame.

jen, london,

If I were more organized I'd have cloth bags with me when I went shopping, and reuse them over and over. That wouldn't be a bad idea anyway. Hmmm

Lisa, Kansas, US

Really not very different from claims by radical feminists about Superbowl Sunday in the US (big nationally televised football game) leading to greatly increased hospital visits by abused women — a claim that has been refuted in detail.

When someone has an axe to grind, they will adopt any cockamammie falsehood if it suits their ends. Even when they know they're disseminating lies.

Why is no one pointing the finger at the real culprit, namely, overpopulation? Has "contraception" become a dirty word?

RW, Victoria, BC, Canada

Reporters often get this wrong. Plastic bags constitute a threat to wildlife because they break down into nurdles, small bits of plastic that appear to be food. When wildlife consume these nurdles, they are not getting necessary nutrients and perish from starvation, not by strangulation or suffocation due to plastic bags.

Hiroshi Yamanaka, Hokkaido, Japan

For all of those who don't know anything about modern landfills. They are clay lined pits with sump pump systems, designed to keep waste in and water out to avoid leaking contaminents into the "enviroment". That means they are big trash cans that keep waste in and do not promote degredation. Anything that is put in a modern landfill will not break down because that will cause wider enviromental problems. That is why we are running out of landfill areas. Most cities don't care or have no money for a recycling project, but most large retailers, INCLUDING WALMART, will take back their bags to be recycled. Most Americans are just too lazy to carry their bags back to the grocery store, ESPECIALLY ALL THE WHINERS. Instead of whining, ask if your grocer will take back the bags, or carry your bags with you when you shop(like me and my wife do). Its not up to the givernment or the stores, its up to to. SO SHUT UP AND DO YOUR PART.

monzoid, middle america, usa

"This is one of the many examples where you get bad science leading to bad decisions which are counter-productive."

"Attacking [smokers] makes people feel good but it doesn't achieve anything."

Harry Davies, Galway, Ireland

What a surprise, politicians making wild claims with no scientific basis.

Ken Keylor, Westerville, USA/Ohio

If we have to replace the extremely cheap, flimsy bags will everyone be willing to accept the much higher cost of paper bags with their associated, highly polluting, paper production methods. Hang around a paper mill for a while, get inside and look at the toxic waste they generate and then worry about the unsightly plastic bag waste blowing in the wind. There doesn't seem to be a "best" answer. The most workable solution is to use cotton bags for groceries and the like--reuseable, biodegradeable and washable. But how many could you carry to the store for a big shopping assignment?
Too bad we can't have concerned citizens--concerned about loose trash, damage to wildlife (nylon netting for fishing), etc.
Any, thanks for the opportunity to give my views.
Lucius B. Gravely, IV
E. Ellijay, Georgia, USA

Lucius B. Gravely, IV, East Ellijay, Georgia/USA

Marc of Woodbridge is spot on.

The Kyoto types, who dabble in the sale of indulgences, should be falling over backwards to give plastic bag users carbon credit coupons.

Mick, Austin, Texas

Who is suprised here? Radical 'environmentalism' is almost totally based on lies and twisted statistcs. It is not really based on concern for the environment at all , but simply a refuge of old and failed socialists still hell-bent in their attempt to thwart both capatalism and freedom. Ironcally both of which, produce cleaner and freer environments for all.

Michel Ouellete, Silver Spring, MD, USA

Charging 5 pence for a plastic bag is not going to save the planet....it's going to make you very slightly poorer....people aren't quite ready to put their groceries in their pockets. This idiotic logic applies to all "green taxes"......nothing will be consumed less ...we'll just pay more for it....and the Government can just lay back, rake in the cash, and claim the moral high ground.

Sedgwick Morrison, London, UK

I remember the days of shopping when goods were put in paper bags and having to travel on public transport and the bags getting ripped open and there was the problem of walking when it rained and the the bags got wet. Will the environmentalists ask for a ban on sweets being sold in plastic bags and a return to to none display paper bags and banning plastic pots used for selling plants.

Roger Hooton, Nuriootpa, Australia

Even more evidence that the enviro movement is just a reactionary cult run amok. These kooks don't bother learning any real science and fly into a panic every few months at the latest apocalyptic scare story.

The modern Green movement is best understood as a religious movement. It is superstitious and backwards and preventing real progress being made to improve the lives of real people around the world.

The Greens are deeply immoral people.

Dave, New York, New York

I don't know, when I Google on "turtle mortality plastic" I get several hits of scientific evidence (actual autopsy reports) supporting the impact of plastic bags on sealife. Maybe one study was misquoted, but this article uses that to disparage a legitimate concern. I suspect some of the quotes were taken out of context, when I check the Wiki entry on Sense About Science and see it may be an entryist anti-environmental group.
Disclosure: I do like sea turtles.

Doug, Ottawa, Canada

What kills more birds annually, plastice bags or wind turbines used to generate electric power?

Peter
San Francisco

Peter, San Francisco, California

This article's sole focus is the impact plastic bags have on wildlife and coastlines alone when that isn't the core issue at all. The real issue is that plastic bags take thousands of years to degrade; it's irrelevant whether they are in a landfill or floating in the ocean, confusing dolphins or what have you. The consumer-driven world we live in produces far more solid waste than we have the capacity to store for very long. At the moment we dig and bury and manage as best we can, while sending what we can't handle to the poorest of the countries to sit in the most poorly managed landfills you can imagine.

Samantha Carrigan, Miami, FL, U.S.

All Plastics made of petro-chemicals are a non-biodegradable, and recyclable; therefore, regardless of whether their found in the water, laying on the ground, fluttering through the air, or in you local land fill, they should be recycled just like metals, paper, glass, and construction materials.
Reasons: 1) It requires less energy to wash and reprocess into new products than it is to use 100% virgin materials; and, 2) Over the long haul it’s cheaper because recycling requires people power – and people need jobs that will give them the sense of being relevant; even if those jobs are looked down upon the prissy and proper snobs that maintain that dumping their garbage on someone else is appropriate; – and then whine like little brats when they get a bill for services rendered in the clean-up of the mess they made; and, 3) For the prudent conservationist it’s a win – win situation as we don’t have to look at someone’s garbage; and, (a) there would be a reduction in energy costs (though marginal); and, (b) we would save a few more trees in the process; and, 4) Perhaps as few as 50,000 {1000 people per US state} may be able to get off of welfare; or at least supplement their income until something better comes along.

Robert, Sandy, USA /Utah

I love plastic. Tastes like chicken.

Geoffry, Leeds, Wales

I imagine the plastic bags, plastic bottles, don't do much damage but they look terrible cause they end up everywhere. I hate seeing them stuck in trees. Switch to canvas or hemp bags that are left in your car. http://www.ecobags.com/Our_Products/Canvas_Bags
Sierra club states there is little environmental difference between paper and plastic. http://www.sierraclub.org/bags/

Bryan, Chicago, US

While it may be impossible to determine the exact number of animals killed solely by plastic bags, it is difficult to believe that the consumption of plastic can be anything other than bad for you.

Any reduction in the number of single-use plastic bags given away by retailers in favour of cotton or jute bags is therefore likely to be beneficial to wildlife. Arguing over the degree of benefit does little to diminish the justification for seeking to achieve this.

Stephen Barnes, Newbury, UK

Consumers have become increasingly aware in recent years about issues surrounding waste and recycling. Unfortunately, the supermarkets have been far slower to respond. The reason people still need to use so many plastic bin bags is because so little packaging is compostable or recyclable - and this is the fault of the supermarkets.

It's all very well and good banning/charging for plastic bags, but this is a minor detail. When are we going to see a positive, cohesive strategy affecting all kinds of packaging?

Sarah, Sussex,

Perhaps the lunatic ecowarriors might now reconsider their opposition to nuclear power as well?

Ian, Frederick, USA/MD

We can't ban plastic bags, how else will we dispose of the mercury filled waste from broken cfl light bulbs.

Defra gives the following guidance "Vacate the room and ventilate it for at least 15 minutes. Do not use a vacuum cleaner, but clean up using rubber gloves and aim to avoid creating and inhaling airborne dust. Sweep up all particles and glass fragments and place in a plastic bag. Wipe the area with a damp cloth, then add that to the bag and seal it. Mercury is hazardous and the bag should not be disposed of in the bin."

I can see an immediate use for old carrier bags!

Leah , Birmingham,

Waste is bad. Pollution worse.

But political policies regulating the behavior and limiting the liberties of others that is fueled by emotion and grounded in bad science is an even greater danger.

I worry about the "feelings first - band wagon following - science last" crowd out there that TELLS me what to think and what to do.

And become angry when I disagree.

It smacks of facism.

And I see many posts here from people ignoring the truth reported in this article (a few, even demonizing its being stated) and reverting to their regular mantra.

Of course waster and polution are bad -- and efforts to limit it are good -- but the Green cause needs to be promulgated on reality and not baseless emotion.

David, Scottsdale, AZ

Grocery bags reused as Garbage bags. Now I'll have to start buying BIGGER PLASTIC bags to hold unsanitary, potentially disease incubating fly larva nursery, waste.

You just cant win with these people.

Rich, Augusta, USA

As I recall, the whole reason for plastic bags was to save trees.

Fred, Philadelphia, USA

So, do we also have to believ scientists when they say that GM food crops and animals have no impact on the environment and our health? It seems nobody knows anything about environmental science and we should be very careful that today's assertion won't be tomorrows's disease (cf mad cow disease)

pierre, reading,

Isn't the greatest threat to Marine Life to Sea Turtles? Since a favorite food source for them are jellyfish, which look a lot like plastic bags, and swallowing them does kill the turtles. Quickly degrading plastic would seem to be an improvement to the situation.

David Jarvis, Orlando, Florida

Ocean cruise ships and third world countries routinely dump their plastic waste in into the oceans. I have visited a 2 million acre biosphere in centeral america and seen the pristine shore lines and the ocean shallows littered with plastic bottles, plastic six-pack sodacan holders, and plastic bags. It is time to stop using these wasteful and damaging products!

Dahveed, Nashville, USA

Less demand for plastic means more demand for alternatives such as paper. That means more trees are cut, more paper pollution, more paper mills (not very clean) and higher costs for all paper products.

If you don't like plastic bags all over how about enforcing littering laws.

Jack Murphy, Brownsburg, IN

As a child I learned that the plastic holders for a six-pack of beer could kill birds - they could get their necks stuck within the circular holes, all six of them. We were taught to clip into the plastic form so that no bird or small creature could get caught. To the best of my knowledge the sales of six-packs has NOT decreased, and so plastic does indeed become involved in the death of many creatures. Why can't the packaging change??

m.whitehead, Sharon, Ct,USA

My family lived in Australia 35 years ago. At that time the supermarkets there gave out large ,strong brown paperbags
to pack your groceries in . What is wrong with doing that again. The paper would break down quicker in Landfill sites.

Linda Graham, Winchelsea Beach, East Sussex

Certain type of banana and teak leaves for wrapping everything in the tropical countries are renewable, free/cheap, biodegradeable; goats, pigs, birds and chickens can eat them.
Plastic bags should be avoided. Don't export your banana, teak, other safe leaves to use. Use them for own welfare. Developed nations can also take heed and investigate which suitable local leaves can be used for wrapping and containers. Be organically minded to save wastefulness and the global environment !

Tris, London,

I recall when plastic bags were touted to save trees. The advertising in California was to insist on plastic instead of paper.
Amazing how ignorant "progressives" are so short sighted.
What will the disaster be next year? Canvas bags are bad?

Mark Bee, Alhambra, Calif. USA

Having spent time on the oceans, I see more styrofoam and fishing debris than anything else. Styrofoam will float on the oceans for nearly forever. This article mentions the nurdles being dumped into the oceans by industrial companies but no mention of action that should be taken against them. Go after the industries that do this! The argument will then be there's no jurisdiction in international waters where major dumpings occur. Humanity is indeed a wretched species and we deserve to be eliminated by Mother Earth as the plague that we are to her.

Robert Smyth, Redway, California

The problem these days is that there are far too many organisation willing to tell lies to get their views accepted by the guillable public. For a start there is no shortage of oil under the ground in one form or another, the world isn't getting warmer if you read the latest reports by weather experts and now plastic bags are not killing every fish, bird ,or beast. What there is a shortage of is decent, caring, nice people who don't throw their unwanted rubbish into every main road, street, gutter or someone else's garden because the world is full of crummy scruffy people who couldn't care less about the filthy environment. Ever followed a council rubbish truck shedding its load of rubbish as it goes to dispose of it on a landfill site ? I have !

Phil de Buquet, Newport, England

less demand for plastic, means less demand for oil, if we could apply this policy in all areas we would be less dependent on the black gold for so many areas of our lives.

that aside, getting rid of the plastic carrier bag is a fantastic idea. i am forever dissapointed and embarresed when driving through this country and seeing them EVERYWHERE. they are unsightly and ruin our great countryside.

move into the 21st century people. stop being fearful of change.

Ben Siegmund, Ware, UK

The notion that paper is biodegradable and plastic is not is another false fact. Scientist did up old dump sites and found that paper bags, newsprint, phone books are pristine as the day they were buried except they are sometimes swollen taking up more space in the landfil. Plastic bags on the other hand compresses taking up less space in the landfil. It is the clear choice for the time being. If you want paper to decompose you have to keep it wet and exposed to the elements.

Stephen Polson, Wichita, ks

The reality is that the developed nations have the ability to dispose of their refuse. If you live in the United States or England the technology of waste disposal is complete, we can safely dispose of refuse fro thousands of years case closed move on to the next issue. If underdeveloped nations, Egypt, Thailand, etc can not dispose of the bags properly they should ban them there. Trying to make me feel bad about plastic bags in the states, where my country can easily dispose, of them is lunacy.

M DOC, Philadelphia, pa

E. Bee and Don, it isn't a choice between two non renewable sources for bags - Paper versus Plastic. Both are bad in different ways.

We have to start thinking re-usable before re-cyclable.

Bags made of cloth - made from a renewable material and re-useable at the same time are the better answer.

But it's hard. We have a pile of re-usable bags and sometimes forget them. But we are getting better at throwing a bunch into our car. Also supermarkets are getting better - originally getting snotty looks when telling the check out people to fill our bags and not the plastic bags that they have the hooks to hold for them.

Hemp is probably the best choice - easy to grow, incredibly strong and long lasting. Problem is that governments and police think all hemp is marijuana.

But at least we are having these conversations. They would have been non-existent 10 years ago.

Paul, Toronto, Canada

I find many of the posts here spewing unfounded facts.

First of all plastic bags will not kill you unless you tie a bag over your head causing suffocation. By the way, all plastic bags give you a warning for that hazard. Plastic film, more specifically low density polyethylene(LDPE), linear low polyethylene (LLDPE) and High density (HDPE) is an inert, non-reactive material that if injested, will not kill you unless you injest enough material to cause a blockage. But then again, any idiot injesting enough paper bag material will kill you as well.

Second, the beauty of a plastic bag is that it is such a GREAT Product. What other product can withstand such sidewall pressures and still contain the contents of the bag. Just try making a trip home with a cloth bag that gets bumped against something and see how fast the liquids come dripping out thru the weaving of the cloth bag.

Third, plastic bags are great since they can be 100% recycled. After being a bag, mfg into decking.

Brenty, Chicago, USA

Once again, hyper-reactive environmentalists show that their supposed science is really just faulty assumptions and their absurd campaigns should be ignored. They are wrong time and again and again and again!
You CANNOT trust environmentalists. They are out to subvert the will of the majority, as they arrogantly think they are the only ones qualified to make responsible decisions. They are also hypocrites who think they should be allowed to use resources as they see fit, while keeping them from the rest of us.
Envirodorks want to change the world; here's a crazy idea -- they should try being productive rather than obstructive.

Scott, Portland, USA

I really think Marc from Woodbridge has the right idea. I want to consume bags as well to save the environment. Where can I obtain large amounts of bags to hoard?

In fact, why doesn't the governmnent just BUY large amounts of carbon-trapping bags and distribute them to all of us so that we can use them properly? In fact, why don't we also have a jobs program whereby govt-hired officials advise the public on safe use of bags?

Hey--you know they're going to use them--might as well make sure they use them properly!

Tj, Chicago, IL

There seems to be a misuse of words somewhere! The science that was conducted by the Canadians presumably was good. It was the authors of the Australian report who got it all wrong. Was this government report a properly peer reviewed scientific report? Who were the authors? I seem to remember a government report prior to the Iraq war claiming that Iraq had WMDs, ready to be launched at 45 minutes notice, despite there being scientific evidence that this may well not be the case. Don't blame the scientists. It was good science, not bad science, just that governments have on occasions produced bad reports, misquoting and even misusing the science!

Dick, Durham, UK

This problem is endemic with global warming activists. They latch onto a flawed study and build a mountainous governmental action on a non-existent molehill. In other words, they have a great propensity for acting on an untruth that becomes widely circulated. Like their poster child, Al Gore, the truth is not in them at all. This is about government control and attacking the "military-industrial complex," not about the environment. We are dealing with old hippies and folks who sympathize with them. Not statesmen or scientists.

David Phillips, Paris, Texas

I find it amazing that plastic bags have the peculiar habit of just showing up in various places without the benefit of some sort of transport. They just seem to go from manufacture to pristine environment in some sort of miraculous way. Why is the responsibility always misplaced? Is it totally out of the realm of possibility that the real enviro-polluters are you and me? Could we just go back to some conservation training in our schools rather than this drumbeat of corporate misdeeds.

I live on a rural road that is constantly littered with trash thrown from cars by drivers and passengers alike. The accepted solution would be for my small company to adapt the road and clean up the trash while advertising on a sign declaring our concern for clean ditches which says "This highway adapted by My Company". How about a sign that declares "Clean up your own damn Trash"!

S. Wilkinson, Harleyville, SC

Oh well, that's all right then, I'll throw all my plastic bags out of the window this afternoon.

Would I prefer an environment covered in waste plastic bags or not covered in waste plastic bags?

I'm mystified as to why so many people are so desperate to prove any and all climate change theories wrong. Fear? Inexplicable congenital perversity?

Many of the things done to resolve climate change problems - real or imagined - are simple common sense and actually work for everyone, regardless of the end game. e.g Better fuel consumption from cars - saves the driver money and oil lasts longer (because it IS a finite resource, whatever Americans think!).

What exactly is so wrong with that?

Perhaps the guy I saw last week get out of his Mercedes, leaving the engine running, to walk 50 yards to a cash point, drawing out money for petrol no doubt, can explain this bizarre and perverse thinking. He probably sneers at common sense as well.

Eric Ambleside, Yorkshire,

The problem then is political action based upon incomplete science. The work of Newton or Einstein didn't have the world's governments clambering around trying to regulate everyhting based on their findings. Science is being coopted by those that want to tax and regulate and the ultimate victim, other than the citizenry, is the reputation and standing of science in society.

Allen Gilmer, Austin, USA/Texas

If the price of oil keeps on climbing, pretty soon, we won't be able to afford plastic bags.

Travis Bickle, New York City, USA

There must be carbon credits for this somewhere. Is Al selling these in Europe, also?

Dan, St. Louis, Mo., USA

The irony is that the crisis-mongers making people fearful of shopping bags shoud actully be encouraging MORE use of bags. Whether they are plastic or paper shopping bags sequester carbon in solid form and prevent that carbon from ever being released into the atmosphere to cause global warming. More bags = less global warming.

I always use waaay more bags than I need because I care about the environment...

Marc, Woodbridge, VA

Whether or not the bags directly kill animals is beside the point. There are other good reasons not to use them. Plastic bags are avoidable, so lets avoid them!

Richard, Nottingham,

I find it ironic that people get all worked up about plastic because it doesn't decompose. As opposed to something that does decompose and polute? Bury it and never worry about it again. Plastic packaging actually has a net positive effect on the enironment because of the food waste it reduces. As the whole "the landfills are going to overflow" is a myth. Do some research into the topic and you'll find that all household waste is pretty much insignificant in terms of area.

Ray, Windham, US, ME

This sound like the same false science for "second hand smoke" and "Global Warming"... oh wait.. that has been proven false... it's "climate change" now. It's all about people and their "cause". Much Like religion..... faith with no real proof.

Tony, Chicago,

What idiot would blame a supermarket for the plastic waste. How about putting the blame on the consumer where it belongs?

Jim , Lincoln, USA/NE

I don’t need a bunch of scientist or a government report to tell me that plastic bags and bottles are a disaster for this planet. I’ve canoed down the Amazon during the dry season and seen the river edge blotted out by plastic bangs hanging from trees exposed by the low water. Any one who has been to the pyramids will testify to plastic bags and bottles littering the site as is the rest of Africa. As a round the world sailor I’ve seen the garbage islands at first hand in all of the world oceans . The worlds beaches are covered in garbage that will take years to clean up. I now live in Thailand a country with wonderful scenery ruin by plastic bottles and plastic bags because Thais lack the resources to deal with the problem.

Forget big oil as the main polluter look no further than Big super markets , 7 Eleven, fast food chains and big drink companies.

Don’t ban plastic bottles and plastic bags because of some bad science ban them because it’s the right thing to do.

dave, Phuket , Thailand

Oh, so that's ok then. We'll just keep stuffing our kitchen drawers with them (accidentally allowing a few 100's of thousands to drift across the countryside). For G*ds sake, they are still a complete waste! Just use cloth bags! Let me guess, the plastic bag makers paid someone somewhere to discredit this guy?

Wonderkid, Oxford, England

Hey Don, keep using paper bags and soon there will be no trees left for our plastic bags to get caught up in !

Just a joke Don, what ever the choice someone will find out that its the wrong choice...just depends who is in office at the time to know who will be against thedecision.

E. Bee, Toulouse, France

“It’s very unlikely that many animals are killed by plastic bags,” he said. “The evidence shows just the opposite." -What, that animals are brought into being by plastic bags? God is a plastic bag...

eric mccleave, paris,

The point is that given plastic bags and any type of plastic does not decompose surely it is better to use less of it and throw away less so that we all benefit. Less pollution in landfill less plastic hanging off trees ,less plastic bottels in the gutter etc. Some people would rather do nothing until it hits them in the face and then its too late...

Simon , arezzo Italy

Simon, Arezzo, Italy

Perhaps Richard from California can substantiate his claim that plastc IS actually killing animals and seabirds.

Oh, by the way, will old Gordon be taxing us on plastic bags if it becomes part of our shopping list?

Tony Batty, Bristol,

Paper bags don't bio-degrade when dumped in modern landfills anyways.

North American archeologists, deprived of a sufficient number of ancient sites, often train students using landfills.

They have found that even newspapers from 75 years ago are often so well preserved that they are readable. They layers of clay used to seal modern landfills exclude oxygen and render the paper essentially non-biodegradable.

And the paper in paper bags is much thicker than newsprint. So any degradation would be even slower.

The paper in paper bags also weights more than the plastic in plastic bags, meaning a correspondingly larger amount of waste that is not going to biodegradable.

Paper bags were just an easy way to clear people's consciences over their use of gas guzzling vehicles and destruction of the environment by agriculture, housing and pollution.

Keith T, Winnipeg, Canada

I recently studied bags of full of rubbish dumped in the country for a period of three weeks using cameras and microscopes.
The first mammals attracted were rats, dogs and hedgehogs, none of them complained. But flies and a multitude of insects magically found their way into the bags even earlier and they all seemed to have a jolly good time in there. For these creatures of God, plastic bags full of human rubbish are the equivalent of an ideal housing estate with a free canteen attached. And with all the people emulating Ramsey and Oliver they get pretty nutritious diet including the all important 5 portions of fruit. If we can make them pay we could cut down on waste, boost the economy and live in harmony with our many legged, coloured and shaped friends.

Henry Jones, London, UK

As I keep saying, this is a ploy by the manufacturers of bin liners to get us to buy their product because most people at the moment use supermarket bags left over from the shopping. And theres no profit for them in that.

cam, essex,

MikeM asks why scientific reports are always being discredited and "Whatever happened to the boring old principle of proving before publishing". He clearly doesn't understand the principles of scientific research. Progress is made by proving that old views were wrong. For 200 years we thought Newton's laws of gravity were "right" until Einstein came along with a better version. Any scientific theory, even Darwin's theory of evolution, could be disproved tomorrow if someone came along with a single piece of evidence which could not fit within its framework. Science is just the explanation that fits all the known facts. Good science predicts by hinting at places we could look to find something we never expected to see before (as Einstein did with Mercury). But all of it stands or falls as new evidence comes along which could disprove it.

Alex, London,

Here in France E. Leclerc, one of the biggest supermarket chains removed free plastic bags from their shops 15 years ago with a 'lets all save our planet' PR compaign.
No one was fooled, we all knew it was to cut costs by making customers pay for something that was previously free.
I engaged them in a protracted exchange of letters asking for details of their savings and whether the money gained was contributed to saving the planet. Of course i got nowhere. One by one the other chains followed suite. We use just as many plastic bags ... only we pay for them !

andy James, lyon, france

Plastic does contaminate the world! Paper can take place of them in many aera,and we can use only one bag time and time again!

Johnson Ling, ZHENGZHOU, CHINA

Plastic bags are a symbol of our wasteful society but not the main issue. There's a massive sea of plastic debris floating around the Pacific and I would like to see a scientific study on the effect of it on all creatures who live in the occean. Brown's interest in this topic was entirely fleeting and you can bet he will not mention it again after reading the Times today.

G.Sampson, Emsworth, Hants, England

On the bag issue, buy the canvas ones - I did. They work great over and over again.

On the bandwagon science - I'm proud to be a heretic. I've known since the beginning "global warming", at least with respect to claims it's anthropogenic in nature, was a scam.

It's funny how the left in America believe it when THEIR politicians make up a climate crisis to make them act without thinking, yet when a real threat like radical Islamic fundamentalists threaten and make good on those threats with actual attacks they insist it's all a con job from the right.

Unbelievable!

Greg, San Diego, USA/CA

"John Lewis added that a scheme in Ireland had reduced plastic bag usage, but sales of bin liners had increased 400 per cent."

The supermarkets gain threefold from a ban on plastic bags: they don't have to pay for free plastic bags, they can sell more shopping bags and they can sell more bin liners.

This policy proposal combined with pressure for minimum prices on alcohol make me think that the supermarket lobbyists at Whitehall are more than earning their keep.

Chris H, Callander,

I am afraid that far too many people these days never grow out of their teenage years. I put it down to the 'nanny state' myself; they never have to think for themselves. Anyone who has had children remembers their teenage years, which can usually be summed up in one phrase: Don't confuse me with facts, my mind is made up.

By the way; I think that you will find that the majority of plastic bags blowing around have been blown off an uncovered refuse lorry.

Morvan, Saulieu, France

Yep, more 'science' based on doctored reports from getyourdodgysciencereporthere.com.
The government is so quick to act on a potential revenue earner, like vultures spotting carrion.
I can just see Gordon slavering over his cut of the M&S bag scam.

"It may be miniscule in terms of tax, but hey, I have a clean conscience stealing from people
using the word 'green' as a cover for the word 'greed'. There's nothing immune from this green
wheeze. I have millions of idiots lining up to verbally abuse and brow-beat dissenters too".

Plastic bags are bad but only because they take so long to degrade. Nothing wrong in trying to
reduce the use of them. Nothing wrong in trying to reduce C02 either, but lets stop the Bags-are-bad
zealots before they get wound-up and of hand just like the great Global Warming tax fiasco that
has infected our country with a large dose of self-destructive stupidity.

David Thijm, Stourbridge, UK

Bags may not be threat marines and animal life but may pose threat to humans if used irresponsibly. In 2005 overuse of plastic bags and irresponsible disposal lead to blocking of sewage canals in Mumbai. During rains, this lead to floods killing hundreds and destroying thousands of properties. If not properly monitored this may happen anywhere maybe one day even in UK.

Yo, Harrow,

Gordon Brown is a knee-JERK primeminister as most of these scientist who pander to this government. They only want money to spend on worthless research.

steve tea, manchester, cheshire

When I find plastic bags in my yard I blame bad neighbors and not the bags.

For many years we have been told to use plastic to save our trees. Recently it was found that demand for wood was down and tree growers were selling off their land to developers to maintain their income. Using less wood does not necessarly save a tree. In fact, the inverse is sometimes true. Developers don't plant new trees to replace the ones they cut down.

Mike P, Baraboo, WI

the entire hysteria regarding the alleged man-made Global climate change is a blunder
Like all totalitarian mass-movements it is based on emotions like fear and hate

Richard, Munich, Germany / Freestate of Bavaria

I like the comments about ropey science. Every week there is a news item about a new so called expert scientific report relating to diet which directly contradicts a similar news item from the previous week. I therefore now ignore all such reports.
After the Meadows scandal one wonders why so called expert witnesses are protected from vigorous cross examination. In view of the recent record of the scientific community I would have thought that in every case they should be treated as hostile witnesses on the grounds that there motivation is to please the promoting client or to obtain grant aid by being over sensational.
The problem is that judges and politicians will always bow to ropey science on the grounds that if they do not and subsequently it proves to be the case that, unusually, the scientist was right they (the judge or politician) will get it in the neck.
Oh for the days of Newton and Faradaywhen scientific research was "straight"

Stephen Green, Correns, France

People should just go buy a canvas sack and use that. It's just one bag - and has a life span of a few decades!!!

Thomas, Paris,

I remember a friend who did a degree in environmental science pointing out that plastic bags are needed in landfill sites to act as 'fibre' to bind the materials together to make the mass more stable. Sounds plausible.

Despite the science of the matter I think there is a psychological factor at play here - get people used to the idea of not generating wasting , show them it's not actually painful or hard work and this attitude will grow and spread to curbing other wasteful behaviour that does have a serious impact on the environment.

And let's get the focus right. The problem as described is not caused by the bags themselves, but the ignorant litterers who discard them thoughtlessly. Most supermarkets have bag recycling bins by their doors these days.

rogere, Bournemouth, UK

Keep up, Ken Leyland - it's "Climate Change" this year, apparently...

Paranoid, Hartlepool,

One of the big problems with the crass misuse of scientific data for political ends is that good data gets lumped in with bad.
There are already posts using 'the great plastic bags swindle' of 2008 to cast doubt on the utterly unrelated theories on climate change, and any number of other important issues.

For what it's worth though, I agree with Niels of Budapest; tax the bags at 5p each (like the Irish did) and we'll get rid of hundreds of millions of the damn things floating around the streets in high winds, and stuck up trees after a storm!

Paul Newbold, sheffield, u

Platic bags do need to be banned but using lies to justify the banning is stupid. An important message will be ignored because people will asume it's a load of claptrap. The scientists should make sure of their facts and the politicians should check their facts before either of them speak.

Susan, Barry, S Wales

Screw a plastic bag up into a ball and it will probably be about a centimeter squared. Now try and do the same with a carton from a ready-meal, or a pack of pears, or a tin of baked beans. It would be great if these bandwagon jumpers could at least focus on the right thing.
There's been a report doing the rounds in the retail trade about how plastic bags are important to the 'make-up' of landfill waste, as they help bind it together without adding (virtually no) volume to it overall. But the retailers just wish to follow customer sentiment, which is irrational and sheep-like!

Bill, Birmingham,

It is unfortunate that an article about bad science refers to "more than 100,000 marine mammals, including birds," Even a mere chemist like myself knows that birds are not mammals, marine or otherwise. This may seem to be nit-picking (and probably is) but it is an indication of a big problem with public understanding of what can be complex environmental issues. Most people get their information through some form of the media. If journalists don't ensure that they have got it right what hope is that people will be well enough informed to make rational decisions.

Billy, Basel, Switzerland

Yet another scare caused by faulty science. I wonder when they will wake up to the fraud that "global warming" is pushing on us all. I love the scare tactic about the huge plastic bag island in the Pacific Ocean. Somebody stayed awake for a long time to come up with that one.

Pedro, Washington, DC USA

What is wrong with degradeable plustic bags? or big brown paper bags

Peter Kaldor, Woking, Woking

I've been using ripstop bags I bring for years, not because I thought my plastic bags would end up in the ocean (I don't litter), but because it seems wasteful to use resources unnecessarily.

--Amy Alkon, advicegoddess.com

Amy Alkon, Santa Monica, California, USA

Plastic or paperbags, the problem is that they are free which causes a huge extra consumption. Just check the massive reduction in bag consumption in Ireland when thy started to charge for it. (BBC 20/8/02 - see Google). A reduction from 300millions to 23 millions. What is the argument for continuing free bags ? ? ?

Niels, Budapest,

"it's clear for most of us to see that the production and waste of billions of disposable plastic bags a year can't be a particuarly good thing.....Toby, Newport"

Very true, Toby.

However, what's not so clear is why re-usable bags are necessarily better for the environment.

1) Part of the problem about the plastic bag is this myth of its "single use". I suspect many of them are re-used (mine are).

2) Tougher re-usable bags (that cost) from the supermarket seem a much more complex product.

3) I've seen no figures comparing the cost of manufacture of a 50-100 use bag vs that of a "single use" (call it 3 use) plastic bag. People seem to assume as its used more, it much be better. That might not be the case.

Clive, Surrey,

The co-op supply reusable plastic bags that biodegrade in less than 2 years.If they can do it so can the others.Even if its not killing so many animals they are still unwelcome polluting the environment

jerym eedy, caerphilly, uk

I think Lord Taverne is wrong. The ingestion of plastic particles is not good for our health nor for other life forms. While it is true that large mammals are harmed more by fishing nets and lines, the scientific community does not have the resources nor it seems the will to undertake extensive biopsies of so many species, to find out the effects of plastics - when it cannot even do with its own! There is less risk in replacing plastic bags, and more benefits from doing so. Of course he right to point out that the direct cause of death in many cases is not plastic, but then we should look at contributory factors - where a toxic agent such as plastic undermines an organism so that its ability to survive is compromised.

Stephen Pain, Odense, Denmark

I used to say "never believe anything you hear" but now it has to be "believe the exact opposite of everything you hear".

George, Bristol, UK

Regardless of whether the science is 100% accurate or not, it's clear for most of us to see that the production and waste of billions of disposable plastic bags a year can't be a particuarly good thing. Most of the major supermarkets have tougher re-usable bags for about 10p, and quite often give them away free, so it's not really much of an effort to try and cut down on the amount of bags we waste.

Whether the figures given for the amount of birds and animals killed is accurate of not, none of us are keen on seeing the litter that these bags can create, especially by morons who don't even dispose of them in a bin.

This article seems to me more like an attempt to knock the Daily Mail's campaign to ban plastic bags, rather than a decent piece of responsible journalism. I'm no fan of the Daily Mail, and I'm sure they've just jumped ona bandwagon, but I find this article in the Times fairly dissapointing.

Toby, Newport, Isle of Wight

Animals apart, plastic bags are a blight on the landscape the world over - no matter where you go, they are all over the countryside, caught in undergrowth. Biggest problem seems to be the human user's ignorance, not the bags themselves.

Bill Atkins, Rehoboth Beach, USA

How much more "bandwagon" science is just as ropey? I won't mention Global Warming - that's now, of course, become a religion and I don't want to be branded a heretic.

Ken Leyland, Liverpool, U.K.

Plastic does contaminate the world. Great piece in the Los Angeles Times about a giant swirl of plastic near Midway Island that is the twice the size of Texas. The pile of debris that comes ashore on the island is over ten feet and the giant albatros is losing it's chicks to plastics that they swallow and the chicks cannot digest them. Do not believe the pro plasitc liars it is a fact that plastic is killing our animals quickly and drastically around the world. Garbage from mainland Asia and America swirls together in the pacific and looks like a giant tolite.

Richard, Davis, California

No need to worry about bad science on plastic bags.
I imagine most of us are now totally immune to the incessant "drip" of so-called scientific reports on every subject under the sun, and their subsequent discrediting.
Whatever happened to the boring old principle of proving before publishing? - No fat sponsorship?
But it's still quite satisfying to recycle.

MikeM, St. Albans, England

All I know, is that 26 years ago we were told that plastic bags were good for the environment and we should use plastic bags instead of paper bags to 'save the trees'. I never cared for plastic bags and have received many dirty looks when asking for paper. Unfortunately, through the years I've seen plastic bags flying around on windy days attaching themselves to trees and poles, and knew that my paper bags were biodegradable.

Don, St. Louis, MO, USA