Just happened to be in my local Morrisons (for all you non-Anglophiles out there its yer local HypermegaSupermarket cheapo chain in the UK), trying to decide what flavour Pot Noodle for dinner, and ..... (did you know that Morrisons are a jointly owned by Morrisey, ex-daffodil flinger from 80's depressive's the Smith's, and his cousin uber bluesey Irish moody folker Van Morrison), I was struck by the urge to get a new plastic bag at the checkout to enter my Pot Noodle into, which is sort of ironic, you know, plastic food, in a plastic pot, in a plastic bag, I realised that I may be better off eating the plastic bag rather than the Pot Noodle, as it probably contains more nutrients... Its a infernal dilemma, and I started to contemplate the Village / Town in Devon, Modbury, http://www.modburydevoninfo.co.uk/news_article.asp?Article_ID=13 where they have banned all plastic bags from shops, yes its that simple....
Yes, they have ditched plastic bags in favour of Hessian Sacks, which are made at the local Prison. You may think its not fair on the local Council Tax dodgers and murderers, that they have to sit all day sewing Sacks for the local villagers, and, that their time would be better spent taking drugs, and taking a Law degree at my expense, but I have to say, I am nearly 100% in favour of this policy, and quite why it can't be adopted nationally, internationally, etc, I don't know, seems easy doesn't it ??! Of-course all those Africans using plastic bags to fuel their fires because they can't get/afford fuel would now suffer, so those non-baggers in Devon, are of-course causing suffering elsewhere, with their parochial little middle class environmental claptrap... and so, the conclusion being, will this little thing in Devon make 1 iota of difference to the immense global suffering and impact that Supermarkets & Global Corporations and Governments are making on the World and Environment. No, definitely not, but it makes them feel a little bit rosy down there in ooaarr Devon, cos' they're 'doing-their-bit', so here I am at the checkout collecting my Morrisons Plastic Carrier, which I am later taking up the recycling Centre in Town, so they can transport it out to some landfill in China, and charge me more for the privilege.
Good Luck Modbury. I blame Morrisey and Van Morrison for all our woes !
M*