We live in a world of plastic shopping bags – it is said a trillion are used each year, that is one million million, 1,000,000,000,000. Well done everybody!

It is utterly obscene that we continue to use them. It is shear laziness by the British population and a disgraceful abuse of our environment. We are slowly killing the planet. The lightweight plastic bag is a convenience menace.

Why don’t all supermarkets & major retailers ban them – like IKEA has done?

A sturdy reusable shopping bag folds up to the size of a men’s handkerchief and weights less – why can’t a man always carry one in his pocket when he can cope with a bulging wallet, a smart phone, a filofax, and half kilo of small change; why can’t a women slip one into their handbag (or six as they love to overdo things) when they carry everything else except the kitchen sink in it (apart of course from anything essential or useful such as a pen & paper or their driving licence ).

The pretend goody-goodies actually return used plastic carrier bags to the supermarket bag bank, satisfying their conscience that they are saving the planet when they shouldn’t have taken the bleeding bags in the first place!

What supermarkets need to do is charge £1 each (at least) for a plastic bag AND have a flashing red light and loud warning claxton alarm sounding whenever a shopper uses a plastic bag – that should identify the don’t-cares and bring some shame into their life!

Before the 60s we never had these offensive items (for which we can thank the Swedes) – the age of the single use-use bag hadn’t arrived.

Don’t kid yourself that plastic shopping bags are recyclable or biodegradable when you stuff them full of rubbish to go to the landfill – most are not. The lack of legislation on sale (ha ha – unlimited free supply) is a joke, so we continue to get unacceptable littering and pollution.  The threat by the government that failure by retailers to voluntarily decrease bag use ‘will result in legislation’ is a hollow and false fabrication – politicians are either utterly scared of the supermarkets or are in their pockets. Most people would favour an outright ban rather than a bag tax – even those of us who use them!