h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Plastic Bags and the Environment - A26106374
Author: The Apprentice - My Cat Sucks! - U35204

Rescued from the Flea Market and sitting around on my page waiting for something to get done for too long! Now in a reasonable state... so, open for feedback!

The Apprentice

You have to mention Modbury !

This is what happens when you don't watch the news! I have added a reference to the successful Modbury project at the end! Thanks for the pointer...



The Apprentice

Perhaps you should mention that the Irish charge is not voluntary - nearly all Irish shops are obliged to set a minimum charge for plastic bags. The main focus of the Irish levy was to reduce litter, rather than save resources/energy.

The Scottish Parliament had a look at this recently and then decided the env benefit was not clear enough.

sprout

It might also be worth mentioning that only 3 - 5% of the world's plastic is recycled and that apart from the tiny percentage that is incinerated, all the world's plastic still exsist.

Have you ever heard of 'The Doldrums' or more technically the
North Pacific Sub-Tropical Gyre, its become the resting place for all the world's plastic as its blown into the sea. Here's a little quote from an article about it

"It began with a line of plastic bags ghosting the surface, followed by an ugly tangle of junk: nets and ropes and bottles, motor-oil jugs and cracked bath toys, a mangled tarp. Tires. A traffic cone. Moore could not believe his eyes. Out here in this desolate place, the water was a stew of plastic crap."

There's more here if you think it's suitable - http://www.algalita.org/charles_bio.html

You could link to Footbacon's Entry on Plastic Bags at A2263475; and to my Entry on Global Warming at A197499.

... the average plastic carrier bag is used for 5 minutes but takes 500 years to decompose'

According to Stephen Moss (Liberal Democrat's Environment spokesman) writing in The Guardian newspaper on 6th June 2006, the British use 17bn carrier bags/year (= 167/person), and they take 1000 years to decompose.

A specific environmental hazard is that once they get into the sea they can kill large mammals such as whales and dolphins, who mistake them for jellyfish

I have lost easy access to the Internet until the end of the week... so, I'll keep listening and taking notes. The quote at the top came from DEFRA - and everyone seems to have a difference of opinion on the numbers.

for the feedback!

The Apprentice

This is a good idea for an entry, I would have rescued it myself if I'd spotted it first!

Some comments:

"contributes to global warming and climate change."
Global warming is part of climate change, you just need one or the other, ideally climate change.

"In non-supermarket shops - such as Marks and Spencer - or even the express checkouts of supermarkets it is quite difficult to reuse your plastic bags as before you can say "No thank you I’ve brought my own bag" they will have put your shopping into a plastic bag and given it back to you."

I disagree that it's difficult. I very rarely take carrier bags, and it's easy. I just say 'no bag please'. Very occasionally someone won't be listening and will pack one - I just make them unpack it again. It's not difficult at all.

Your comment later about being quick to ask is true, but I'm not sure what you mean about being assertive being a problem? It's no more assertive than asking for something that's behind the counter.

Sainsbury's never put your shopping in a bag without asking first.

"Another idea for small local shops is they could collect carrier bags which people don’t want and were going to throw away to reuse in their shops, rather than buying new ones."

Why is this only good for small local shops? A lot of charity shops ask for old carrier bags, plus I think some chains have recycling points.

"A small survey shows that:" Source please?

" People don’t like reusing bags as it requires a little bit of effort which they can’t be bothered to put in."

I'd disagree with this too - I don't think people can't be bothered at all. I think it's simply a habit that's so deep ingrained they don't think about it, which means changing is difficult.

"Paper bags"

If plastic bags are prone to tearing, why suggest paper bags as a replacement when they are more flimsy and awkward as they don't have handles?

"Bin Liners - Pop a shopping bag inside your bin to line it, or use a shopping bag to gather the content of smaller household bins for refuse collection day each week. This not only finds a reuse for the shopping bag, but also reduces the need to buy (and manufacture) bin liners."

This doesn't count as reusing, because it's only delayed going in the bin by about a week. It would be better to buy recycled bin liners than use a plastic bag, but that's a different story. It only counts if you don't throw the bag away every week - for instance if you keep it in a bedroom bin, or other bin that doesn't get food in.

Oh, just noted the source for the survey was in the footnotes.

They need sorting out - footnoting a footnote is a bad idea, and there is information there that needs to be in the entry - such as the survey source.

Give me a link to DEFRA in the footnotes.

" People don’t like reusing bags as it requires a little bit of effort which they can’t be bothered to put in."

Sorry to say Mina, but I agree 98% with this statement, although perhaps the addition of Most to the very start of the sentence might be more balanced.

Back in my undergrad days in edinburgh, the local student green society whose name escapes me ran some sort of campaign. Amongst other things, this included collecting and then handing out previously used plastic bags at the entrance of agreeable supermarkets for reuse. It was a huge amount of effort, and rather disheartening - even when saving the masses the little bit of effort required, there was still resitance.

Once of the problems we encountered (err, I was a member of aforementioned society of course) was some sort of social stigma... In snobby edinburgh, some people didn't like to be seen recycling - apparently carrying around used plastic bags is seen as some sort of sign of poverty .

Of course, who knew where our bags had been previously (err again, we did obviously, but I mean the punters), so there might have been a bit of a perceived hygiene issue, but really, I have to say second hand bag uptake was depressingly low...

Serves us right for looking like weird hippies I suppose...
vp

Cheers for the ongoing feedback, folks!

The Apprentice

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've therefore moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

Thanks for contributing to the Edited Guide!

Um... most of the comments from this Peer Review thread haven't been included in the final piece. Might be worth highlighting for the Sub-Ed... and I'll need to keep a close eye.

The Apprentice

My freetime has been limited and I was getting round to it...



The Apprentice

Sorry, didn't mean you, meant the picking/accepting process is sadly lacking these days.

Things do seem rather rushed these days...
I suppose thats technically my fault.
And of course the fault of every other so-called researcher who hasn't got an entry in PR...

I don't think it's a major problem... but, as a Sub-Editor myself I understand the difference between an article that needs a little attention and one that necessitates a lot more hands-on effort and Peer Review reading. This one falls into the latter category at the moment - and I would ask the Sub-Ed who gets this to drop me a line straight away to assist with the completion of work on this Entry.



The Apprentice