Help me to ban plastic bags.

Biodegradable bags shouldn't be seen as the answer. they still use vast amounts of energy in their production and distribution, and have a very short useful life. Re-usable bags can be used many times over, can be made from natural fibres and/or recycled cloth/textiles, and should be seen as the only reasonable alternative.
 
Where i work in B&Q we charge 5p for carrier bags, the money is donated to an environmental charity.
A lot of people have a go at me for it, saying that they refuse to pay for bags for their one small item that they could just put into their pocket. Though there are some people who are happy to pay and think it is a good idea.
 
dirtydog said:
O rly? Link pls?

it was on the petition website itself - if you can't be bothered following up on the petition you sign then you shouldn't be wondering why things like that nearly always fail?

If you want something to succeed you should learn from the original failure and make sure it doesnt happen again, unfortunately the only way for you to get recognized is to align yourself with the most extreme 'parties' ; that in itself is the problem, there can be no amicable solution for all when one side is for and one is against, you need a middle ground - unfortunately, those that live there are all too often silenced by the opposing crys of the left and right.

Those of you wanting to ban bags, can't you see we need them?
Those of you saying no way, can't you see it's a heavy drain on resources?

Stalemate - I say "Ban people who want to ban things" lol.
 
Blackstar said:
A lot of people have a go at me for it, saying that they refuse to pay for bags for their one small item that they could just put into their pocket.

Simple answer to that is to tell them to pop it in their pocket then along with their receipt. :p
 
Like how Australia do it. Really promote the 'bag for life' idea or simply charge for every plastic bag you use.
More or less everyone used one of those 'bag for life'!
Cant be too hard to integrate to a company?
 
SGCWill said:
both the petition i have signed up to, and advertized here passed and both worked. The vehicle tracking has been scrapped for the moment and N.I water charges are being removed at the end of the year and a new system will be put into place.

Thanks for your help guys!

Link to both please?

If of course one of them is referring to this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6470559.stm

Then you're WAY off track, it say's payments might be deferred until next year IF devolution is in place, there's no mention of reform and the chances are you'll end up paying the following years phased in price anyway.
 
A paper shopping bag uses less energy in production than a plastic bag does. However it is not very reuseable and is normally thrown away one it's been used once. If you reuse your plastic shopping bag as a bin bag you tip the balance quite considerably in favour of a plastic bag.

They banned plastic shopping bags in Ireland* a few years back. The result: black bin liner sales went through the roof. Environmental effect: worse because people were still using the same amount of plastic but also paper bags to carry their shopping in which they just threw away.

I notice hardly anyone here uses their spent shopping bags as bin liners, they have only considered discarding them.

*Edit: might not have been Ireland
 
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Down here Plastic bags are now made to be Biodegradable


In other words dont leave them in the back of the car for too long or they will brake down and it will look like it has snowed in the car :p
 
Cuchulain said:
Link to both please?

If of course one of them is referring to this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6470559.stm

Then you're WAY off track, it say's payments might be deferred until next year IF devolution is in place, there's no mention of reform and the chances are you'll end up paying the following years phased in price anyway.

It was on the front of a newspaper with a picture of gerry adams and in the article it contained about tony blair giving 1bn quid for something.

Yeah, the water charges were deffered, but why would anyone do that unless they're going to change how it is priced, if they are, as you say going to just skip the first year and move onto the second year prices, thats a pretty sneaky move.

Anyway I didn't say it got scrapped altogether, just that they are being delayed.

A lot of people here said they're not going to pay anyway, they seem to think that the govt. can't take a couple million of people to court. What do you think?
 
Jonny69 said:
They banned plastic shopping bags in Ireland a few years back. The result: black bin liner sales went through the roof. Environmental effect: worse because people were still using the same amount of plastic but also paper bags to carry their shopping in which they just threw away.

:confused: Have you anything to back up that claim? Plastic bags have not been banned in Ireland, the government just put a 15 cent stamp duty per bag.

And the majority of households have green bins where you can dump your papers, tins.

The general consensus in Ireland is that people are more recycle-concious than ever. (Certainly a lot more that the UK)
 
SGCWill said:
It was on the front of a newspaper with a picture of gerry adams and in the article it contained about tony blair giving 1bn quid for something.

Yeah, the water charges were deffered, but why would anyone do that unless they're going to change how it is priced, if they are, as you say going to just skip the first year and move onto the second year prices, thats a pretty sneaky move.

Anyway I didn't say it got scrapped altogether, just that they are being delayed.

A lot of people here said they're not going to pay anyway, they seem to think that the govt. can't take a couple million of people to court. What do you think?

I'm going to pay, I think it's perfectly fair to pay water rates and I'm certainly not going to risk ruining my credit rating by being a tightwad, my normal rates are like £70 a month, my council tax in England was over £100 a month, add water rates on top and I'm still better off living in NI.
 
I don't throw away any plastic bags unless I have to. From the ones that I keep I use what I can to line other bins throughout the house and store the rest - I'm not too sure what to do with them - I don't want to throw them away without being used.

It's shame that corporations like Tesco (who can easily afford to) don't use biodegradable bags or other alternatives.
 
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