Wake up, it's 13/02!

Even China bans free carrier bags. More...
London introduces £25 congestiont charge for super-polluters. More...
Do green measures curb competitiveness? More...
US candidates set to debate science. More...

Whole Foods takes the plastic plunge

By Earth Day, April the 22nd, Whole Foods plans to eradicate those nasty plastic bags from its stores. Hopefully this will give the UK food giants a wholesome nudge in the right direction...

Bag boss terms ban "irrational hysteria"

To bag or not to bag? David Tyson, Chief Executive, Packaging and Films Association, goes head to head with activists in the Telegraph.

In the reduce, re-use, recycle hierarchy, the plastic bag has a better score than all so-called environmentally-friendly alternatives - provided we keep on re-using it.
Life cycle analyses of paper, as a replacement for plastic bags, show that far greater pollution occurs in their manufacture and transportation across the globe than plastic which is ten times lighter and thinner.
Similar concerns apply to shipping heavy and bulky cotton bags from Asia - and environmentalists should have serious reservations about the working conditions in which they are made.

How long will it take us to get to the bottom of this and similar environmental arguments?

Ban the bag

A Q&A from the Guardian

Bulletin - Bring your own bag

The end of the plastic bag is nigh... M&S have just announced that, next year customers in many of their stores will be shelling out 5p for each unfriendly receptacle they use. And thankfully, they've pre-empted the question: yes, profits from the sale of the bags will go to environmental causes.