Skipper

Using the turtle picture (right) the Daily Mail yesterday declared itself against plastic bags. Public opinion is a strange beast. At times it seems immovably selfish and conservative- for years the overuse of plastic bags seemed not to cause a ripple of concern, whilst supermarkets in Ireland charging for them virtually changed the culture back to using 'proper' shopping baskets and other cities abroad, like San Francisco got the message. It seems like pressure builds up over time and then, suddenly, a collective epiphany occurs. And in the most unlikely places, like the Daily Mail for instance.

The paper credited with a direct hotline to Middle England, points out that the 13 billion bags handed out each year are both an unnecessary expense and threat to the environment from the point of view of litter, danger to certain animals and the fact that it takes 1000 years for them to biodegrade.

A Press Association release shows that the culture is finally changing, with usage of bags dramatically declining by 8%, 2006-7. With Sainbury's and M & S also getting in on the act, it seems the demise of the bag is nigh. Great news, say I, together with the hope that the next cultural change, gestating slowly and painfully onto the agenda, will be a determination to stop the nation drowning in litter.