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| Link to the Daily Telegraph |
"There are lots of things wrong with plastic bags: for a start, they're an especially ubiquitous and unsightly form of litter, blowing around in the wind and getting stuck in trees. They take up landfill space. They're a danger to wildlife, especially marine life, and some (though not, so much, British ones) end up in great litter agglomerations in the south Pacific.
"But, if you're re-using them in an attempt to prevent global warming, I'm afraid it's an exercise in tokenism.
"The creation of each bag produces just 31 grammes (one ounce) of carbon dioxide, according to George Marshall of the 'Climate Outreach and Information Network' – about the same as driving your car 300 feet. The plastic is usually non-biodegradable, so it's stable in landfills and doesn't give off methane from there. (Perhaps ironically, moves towards producing biodegradable bags may actually be harmful.) And, depending on the kind of "Bag for Life" that is used instead and how many times they are used, the apparently 'green' alternative may be more carbon-intensive."
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