More Plastic Bag "News"

Sainsbury's managed to get onto Radio 2's Saturday 1pm news bulletin today by announcing that they would be asking their customers to re-use their plastic bags. Is this really news or a way of plugging their brand? Do people really not understand that it would be a good idea to re-use their bags?
Am I the only one thinking that they are using the plastic bag issue to exploit the media and gain fabulous free advertising. I remember, going back some years, Sainsbury's gave 2p back for each bag we brought and re-used. This was a good thing and they provided a money box so you could give this money to a local charity. Maybe they still do this. My point is they didn't exactly make the BBC news with it.
The idea is always REMEMBER to carry a bag - its that easy.
Happy Easter

love, peace and chocolate
xx

Carry-A-bag everyone!

I am overwhelmed to see that everywhere I look there is a story about the awful plastic bag - newspapers are running campaigns, the prime minister is muttering about them,
LK today is running the story and quite frankly I think it is FABULOUS.
A slightly worrying trend emerged in the Sunday papers - the confessional cool cartoons and columns telling of swapping cupboards full of plastic bags for cupboards full of guiltily bought bags for life, the only difference being the expense and thus more money in the supermarket coffers. Hmmmmm!
I guess the supermarkets are having a bit of a chuckle about this - they already charge us for the 'free' bags in with the price of the food and now having taken the guilt on board we are buying their bags for life. Its not surprising that they've gone for this as they can charge us again - and more openly as this is seen as a positive thing. If we do remember to re-use them they get a longer-lasting, better quality walking advertisement on the street and if we don't then we keep on buying more to fill the cupboard under the sink.
Win Win Win.
You have to love you bag to remember to carry it with you - so find or make shopping bags that work for you, spend a bit more, make your own statement and it will be easy to remember to carry a bag.
x
love and peace
Sally

HEADLINE GRABBING BAG BAN

Pinch me! Yesterday I woke up to breakfast TVs coverage of M&S's decision to charge for bags - fantastic publicity opportunity - I must admit the spokesperson for the company being grilled by Kirsty later on on Newsnight was squirmingly uncomfy when asked to deliver anything beyond a sound bite. Get it right guys - you want us to get the good news, find someone charismatic to deliver it.
Our very closest supermarket is the unusual and surprising Lidl where they have always charged for plastic bags. They don't have hand baskets, so people without bags grab any cardboard box they find to load small shopping and I have noticed that people who buy a lot of stuff fill a trolley then refill it at the checkout and take it to the car to unload without using a single plastic bag. It's probably because they're so European that nobody thinks to question why their bags cost money. It's never been headline news.
Whatever - its a good thing that big stores have found a way of making themselves look
good and green.
Today shock horror every daily paper apart from the Mail headlined with Prince Harry fighting the Taliban. The Mail chose BROWN: WE WILL BAN PLASTIC BAGS and reading online I discover that this and M&S's 5p-on-a-bag charge is all in support of the Mail's BANISH THE BAG campaign launched YESTERDAY! How effective and speedy was that?
Well if it saves one more turtle, keeps another bag out of a tree and makes one more person remember to carry-a-bag then I'm 100% behind it!
love and peace
Sally
x

Fairtrade Fortnight

It would be a wonderful thing if we all chose Fairtrade all the time and this specially designated fortnight gives us the opportunity to try because the shelves are stocked and the giant plastic banana's are pointing us in the right direction. The Co-op is the small, local supermarket with the biggest commitment to Fairtrade, so if you've not been there then I suggest you give it a try. Shopping locally often means that you're left out of the statistics when it comes to monitoring the effectiveness of campaigns like Fairtrade Fortnight and making sure that your local Co-op sells out of Fairtrade produce is a way of being counted.
So.... it's my duty to go and buy bananas,mangoes,coffee, chocolate and wine!
Happy ethical shopping.
(I'm not being sponsored by the Co-op by the way)

TRYing to feel generous

Observer Food Mag is coming out this Sunday and flagged up by email today. Nigel Slater - who I really do love - is tackling the plastic bag issue. Nigel carries a bag...he also sings the praises of Anya Hindmarch for her planet saving five pound bag. Well, I am trying not to be bitchy here but last week I saw someone coming out of Lidl carrying their shopping in one of Anya's bags and it struck me that it was the first time I'd actually seen one being used to actually carry shopping. When the bag was launched I was pretty thrilled that the issue had become such a hot topic so I signed up for the Anya Hindmarch email newsletter. I now get updates on her latest bags and guess what - they each cost about a month's rent and the environment only gets a mention when she gets another f***ing award for I'm Not a Plastic Bag.
Meanwhile back in the real word...There is an elderly lady in a corner shop in Hove who sews shopping bags out of odd bits of fabric and sells them to her customers for a pound - I think she should get an award.
love
Sally
PSSST! Remember to carry-a-bag

CHINA BANS PLASTIC BAGS

The Chinese have decided to ban the manufacture of ultra thin plastic bags as of June 1st 08
and the law will also forbid shopkeepers from handing out free plastic bags. They say that the environment is a factor but the main reason is the huge amount of petrol needed to make plastic bags. They are suggesting that people get used to carrying cloth shopping bags or use a basket.
Wow! At the moment three BILLION plastic bags are given out everyday in China
so this really is something to celebrate.
It's impossible to make an argument in favour of using those polluting plastic bags because all any shopper has to do is REMEMBER to take a bag to the shops - that's all it takes.
How hard can it be?
love and peace
Sally
x

www.carry-a-bag.com

Here's the schoolteacher I mentioned