Sir, This morning I paid five pence for a bio-degradable carrier bag from our local food store. Ordinary plastic carrier bags were as usual given away free.
In view of the current thinking, that the “polluter should pay,” surely we should give away “environmentally friendly” bags such as these, and pay for plastic carriers, or is this just another example of the big stores taking advantage of the green consumer?
1 Oak Lane, Arnesby, Leicestershire, August 23.
(The Times, London, August 31, 1989)
This letter to the editor was written almost 30 years ago, and the situation still isn’t fixed entirely. Actually, Saunders brings up an excellent point: yes, we now have to pay for plastic bags in many states and countries, but biodegradable bags and reusable bags still cost money. Not a lot of money, but still. Why not create free biodegradable bags? Sure, paying for reusable bags still makes sense on some level, but biodegradable bags? Why not make them free?