Is this a good thing?

BradfordLass72, well said and much more to the point!

A bit of a rant - feel free to skip

I wonder if all the people who have so gleefully jumped on the Plastic is Evil bandwagon, have also decided not to wear or use anything containing polymers?
No bedding, duvets, carpets, light switches?
No replaced joints, sutures or disposable syringes or gowns in hospitals?
No light switches, Sellotape, book jackets, toys?
And much, much, much more.

And if they think I'm being silly, as no doubt they will, has it occurred to them that in order to ban plastic bags, all governments had to do was stop importing them in the first place?

Plastic is still used everywhere, despite every supermarket crowing they are 'plastic free'. Only now the plastic bags have their own logo printed on and have to be paid for.
Is the penny dropping yet I wonder?

And do they know that the oceans are full of our plastic detritus because our governments and most others are quite happy to dump it, wholesale, out there?

Landfills can only hold so much, so tonnes of plastic is regularly towed out to sea and sunk. And then it comes loose with the obvious consequences.

Greenpeace and Ocean Defenders have been trying to stop this for a very long time. And so they should, I am all for clean and safe seas but why are we only being made to take action now when the supermarkets have decided to charge us for bags they previously gave away in droves?

The reusable bags we are encouraged to take with us (and with which I agree) contain plastic as well - unless consumers have knitted them from non-acrylic wool or non-plastic string.

And do they know that what is loosely termed the Third World uses many more plastic bags than most developed counties (China being a particularly high user) and little can be done to stop that?

When I first came to New Zealand, my shopping was loaded into a Kleensak, a double-layer paper sack which, then doubled as a rubbish bag.

This was stopped when accusatory publicity, designed to make the consumer feel guilty and culpable - similar to the barrage which is hitting us now against plastics, was promulgated about the way we were depleting the forests, including the rain forests, in our lust for paper, cardboard and all its derivatives.

So we did our bit, followed the trend, and like good little sheep consumers, turned to the easily available, ubiquitous plastic bags and packaging.
Plastic replaced glass for containers and components which had used metal.
And so on and so, wearily, on.

I have, with my meagre resources, supported a charity which particularly loathes the way governments dump rubbish in the seas. The protests fall on deaf ears because that is "the cheapest way of doing it".

But I also want to make sure that I am not contributing to the rape of the earth and the loss of trees by now collecting the dozens of paper bags my supermarket has put in place of plastic ones.

Currently I ask for my stuff to be packed into cardboard boxes the shop already received.
They still send some things in paper bags.
I take them to the local organic shop who have posters on the walls showing scary statistics about what the huge upturn in paper-use will do to the earth.

If you have got so far, thank you for listening to my rant. You may not agree with me and that's fine, we all have a right to individual thoughts on this. We cannot rely on statistics put out by the media who are past masters at manipulation and are well-paid to do so, but surely it is obvious that if we use more paper, we use more trees?
Only a small percentage of paper is made from rags by the way.

I'll get me coat.......

GG54, I can echo your impressions of Digbeth Coach Station. En route to Heathrow, in about 1992, I had to change coaches there and found it pretty squalid and intimidating. It seems that in the 30 years between our experiences of it, it had not changed for the better. Strangely enough, I'm not inclined to take a trip there to see if it has improved.

Blinko
My memories of Digbeth coach station are from the 1960s when I used to visit friends in London and I've yet to come across a more stark and frankly, frightening place.
Of course it will have been updated in the interim but the memory sticks.
Primark...biggest in the world...wow!
I saw it on tv and it has escalators.
What is the Mailbox?
Is Grand Central a shopping area or railway station?
I'll send for brochures and city map from the tourist office.
Thanks for the info.
Now I can look for a nice airbnb near to the centre.
???

Largest Primark in the world, GG54! Reported to be coaches coming from far and near to visit it.

Other notable attractions include canalside eateries, the Mailbox, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (Staffordshire Hoard and the pre Raphaelites) and Grand Central, if you must shop.

None of these is anywhere near Digbeth...

IMO we should move to all plastics being recycled and any that cannot be should be banned. There just needs to be some imagination.

I love that there are places where you can buy from shops that refill, so that we can reuse.

I don’t recall any problems in the past when raw meat was wrapped in grease proof paper, followed by newspaper. I’m not advocating a return to this but surely compostible bags can be use and then use your own boxes for double safety.

I’m guilty of flying. I go to see a DD in NZ once a year for a month. I’d love to be able to go overland/train/boat but the time travelling would be impossible. I’m seriously thinking of taking a coach to Bristol for visiting DD2 but it takes all day. The train is far too expensive for me.

This is a difficult problem for me. Anyone have any suggestions to reduce my carbon footprint. BTW, I use public transport most of the time, leaving the old banger behind if it’s feasible.

This society is set up for car travel not public transport and I’d like to see this change.

It’s such a knotty problem so I’m hoping it’s not too late for my grandchildren and the planet.

Ooooh Gabriella, my daughter got married at the Old Library in the Custard Factory in dreadful Digbeth!

Totally agree with Urmstongran. How do we encourage people to drive less, have fewer children and fly less?

I find lots of the dog poo bags in the woods not need to use them there get a stick and flick it off the trail, train your dog to back into a bush as mine does. Then I find un-used ones all over the place. Keep your dog on the lead until it has done that sort of thing, then let it run and take your plastic wrapping home. We have a very strong anti-plastic group here. The image is just some of the litter I have reported for removal or moved my self.

About 10 years ago there used to be shops called scoops but they didn’t seem to take off. They had drums of food nuts cereals etc The customer had to just help themselves like pick and mix. Then weigh and pay. I did see someone with grubby coat sleeves digging deep which did put me off a bit.

Whether this is a good or a bad thing depends on somethings OP hasn't mentioned.

What is the shop selling its goods in? If paper bags made of recycled paper in an responsible fashion, I would regard it as a good thing.

If however people have to bring their own containers there might well be issues. We are not allowed to bring our own egg-trays to farms selling eggs for fear of spreading samonella to fars that are free of it.

And there are concerns regarding cleanliness if people fill their own containers unless gloves and utensils are used.

So all in all, I need more information before deciding whether this is a good or bad thing.

I believe that every little helps. Our local "weigh to go" shop allows me to refill cleaners, soap and washing dispensers. Buy loose oats, cereals and other dry goods. Non-plastic cosmetics and toiletries. Milk in glass bottles (returnable for 20p) etc etc. The problem for many people is that it can be more expensive than the cheapest brands in a supermarket, and for a family shopping list that is prohibitive.

I think more and more people are "thinking" about what they buy but it is a slow process. Supermarkets are slowly catching on - e.g. wonky veg, but many people still seem to want pristine clean carrots etc in a nice plastic bag.

Actually, a new report published last week, disclosed that much more pollution is caused by vehicle tyres, brakes and roads (called particle pollutions) than petrol or diesel emissions.

Twenty five or so years ago there was a chain of shops called Weigh and Save. Where flour, cereals, dried fruit and many other products were in bins and one could take just as much as needed. Useful for single people like me who only need small quantities but now have to buy large packets the contents of which go past their use buy dates and have to be thrown away.

You used to be able to leave your packaging at the till in German supermarkets when we lived there 45 years ago.

I read recently that Fairy Liquid bottles are being made out of plastic taken from the sea. It's a slow process but manufacturers are getting there. Lidl has set up recycling in store. My daughter is thrilled that she can now recycle plastic bags that nappies come in, and many other such bags.

Stella.... do you need a big gas-guzzling giant of a car.? I don’t drive , or fly since my understanding of the destructive forces of these two things. I cycle and use public transport ,and heres a thought for the able bodied , walk!! but I’m certain nobody NEEDS a gas-guzzling giant of a car . Your words..., not mine. In our immediate family of two adults with two grown children only one drives, and she only started at age forty as her job demanded it! We all manage our day to day life very well and mostly with a relatively clear conscience.... the fact that my shopping is double wrapped in stupid amounts of plastic and cardboard is not my fault and I feel we could make more complaint than we do about that. I used to have a customer that when he brought anything too wrapped he would discard all the packaging at the till... cereal boxes....cake boxes....plastic wrapping around newspapers with supplements , all gotleft at till. Used to think he was bonkers twenty years ago, now I know we should all be doing it.

I agree with M0nica. I read the other day that the single most important household item in the world is a plastic bucket!
Also that a cotton tote bag needs to be used 323 times to counteract the pollution in its productions, while a plastic bag only needs 3 uses... go figure, as they say!

I never buy supermarket 'fresh' fish as much of it is 20 days old (recent BBC programme) whereas frozen fish is frozen and/or gutted at sea.

Blinko
I may well treat myself to a trip. I've only been to Birmingham once, can't remember when or why (many decades ago) but I saw the 'Bullring' area and a group of musicians playing bin lids? which was interesting. There was a park nearby, just across the road but I didn't go there.
I believe B'ham has the largest Primark in the UK. ???
That might be my incentive. ??

Well I suppose you know if you have washed your own container thoroughly enough?
I think it’s a very good idea.

I agree with Monica that some of the Anti-plastics ideas are taking things a step too far. Whilst I would be happy to put bird seed or similar into my own box, I wouldn’t be happy to buy unwrapped meat or fish etc and place it in my own reusable box. Surely, food which is prepackaged in a factory is hermetically sealed under strict hygienic conditions. Who can guarantee that their reusable box is totally germ free or that it will get home safely without any leakage? And who needs paper carrier bags which disintegrate in the rain, especially if you are using public transport? I’ve even seen shoppers refuse to buy a bag and then drop a dozen shopping items outside the supermarket! ?. I now keep one of those foldable bags in my handbag at all times. Whilst I agree that some plastic packaging is unnecessary, as a hygienic way to transport food it is very practical and a method which will be hard to replace. I wonder how long it will be before people become ill using their own, not-so-clean food boxes? ?

I think it's all too little, far too late. We all managed without plastic and it's a fairly recent invention (within the last century). Of course, every single effort helps but we're encouraged to think that our token gestures will actually solve the problem. Reducing single-use plastic and recycling won't save the world. We've poisoned the seas and the very air we breathe.

Some posters on this site are rude and cutting, can we have some regard for others please. At the weekend my youngest granddaughter asked me what I was doing to cut down on plastic: Glass bottle door step milk, solid soap, beeswax wrap are just a few. Are manufacturers looking at cleaning products, all the detergent containers are single use plastic. Can any posters suggest what I might use?

Yes, it is single use plastic that's the main problem. Here's a thought though, every piece of plastic ever manufactured is still in existence! Makes you think doesn't it?

Shops are catching on though. Even Sainsburys in my area now allows you to take your own containers for the deli, fresh meat and fish counters, and their recycling plastic bag bin isn't just for used shopping bags. They accept all sorts of plastic wrapping, like that from toilet roll packs, bubble wrap, bread wrapping etc, just ask at your local branch.

We also have several shops that do a refill service of cleaning products and toiletries.

I couldn't get on with shampoo bars but happily fill up my bottle. I do use hand soap and find its kinder on my skin.

Slowly people are waking up. I just pray it's not a nine day wonder!