KlausVonChiliPowder t1_j3mra3g wrote on January 9, 2023 at 5:27 PM

Reply to comment by DedicatedDdos in Single-use plastic cutlery and plates to be banned in England by Sariel007

I'm poor and rely on the free plastic bags to both carry my food for the walk home, a large amount since I can only make it twice a month to the store, and then we use them again at home for trash lining/cat litter/etc.

The real problem is a lack of perspective from the upper-middle classes, believing everyone can shoulder the cost of this feel-good legislation that isn't going to have a significant impact on the environment considering how reliant we are on the stuff for nearly everything we own. Guess what. We're just going to have to buy the plastic bags now.

Give up your phone, TV, car, PlayStation, etc and then let's go after the 10 or so, super thin, poorly manufactured bags I use a month.

DedicatedDdos t1_j3nuekj wrote on January 9, 2023 at 9:23 PM

Plastic bags aren't banned here so you're fine.

Nor am I advocating a complete ban on all plastics.

Nor is this a choice between you surviving financially and the world using less plastic.

Honestly, that's a whole other discussion on its own, from the fact that pollution is becoming an increasing cost to society through climate change, illnesses and whatnot, and addressing all that costs money, not addressing it even more. To how to make that transition affordable for everyone, if we even can etc... and that's a discussion I just don't fancy delving into atm.

When buying a roll of plastic bags breaks your bank there's another issue at play, and that too needs addressing. And we can do multiple things at the same time, but it too often gets bogged down by populist nonsense.

My main point is that we only get to live for a brief while and enjoy this planet, why make it shorter by polluting? And can we at least not leave the place behind cleanly? So the next poor sod that comes along at least has fresh air to breathe and some birds and trees to look at?