Plastic Ain't My Bag: The A-Z of Activism

Confused about what to do with/without your plastic bag? Rest easy. It's the authoritative A to Z of bag activism.

A is for Away. There is no away. Plastic can be used indefinitely. So keep them in circulation by repurposing bags as bin liners and for food scraps, as sandwich bags and for shower caps. Enterprising types might like to try crocheting a backpack or modelling the bra bag.

B is for Buycott. Tell your supermarket why you're not taking their bag. The exchange might go something like this. No thanks, bag-free me. Yup, saving the world on-my-lunchbreak. But if you sold a little canvas tote I could be tempted...

C is for Cross your bags. Like book crossing this - but with plastic bags. Stick a 'Reuse not Refuse!' sign on old bags and release them into the office wilderness for needy colleagues to adopt.

D is for Droplift. Liberate your plastic bags from under the sink and deposit them at your nearest supermarket check-outs to bemused looks and knowing smiles.

E is for the Endurance. If a bag takes 500 years to degrade it's got a good old shelf life. Prize your retro relics. Tag them with a 'birth date' and treasure the passing years. (Plastic years are like dog years, 7:1)

F is for Plastic Free Fortnight. Wheat intolerances. Gluten allergies. Pah. We're going plastic-neutral, keep up...

G is for Guerilla gifting. Give out handmade totes to random strangers. Get the company to sponsor an office bag and leave one, tied with a ribbon on every desk. Run a competition at school for the best design and screenprint them in art for gifts.

H is for Hindmarch. The 'I'm NOT a Plastic Bag'. The fastest selling bag in the history of bagdom. Like, ever.

I is for art Installation. Have all your friends collect their unused bags. Pool your plastics. Create a giant art collage out of them that can be seen from Google Earth (maybe) Send us a picture (definitely).

J is for Journey. Plot your plastics pilgrimage from its dingy confinement under the sink to a sunny street in the Parisian Left Bank (say). Make it a little plastic passport to chart its glamorous outings. (Or is it only us that has too much time...)

K is for Knowledge. Ignorance might be bliss but it sure creates a lot of toxic waste. And a little knowledge is contagious.

L is for Landfill. Have you ever been to a landfill site? Fetid rubbish, flies and acres of concrete. They're no Thorpe Park. Have a heart. Don't send your bags there. Spare them. Share them.

M is for MYO (Make Your Own) bags. Most highstreet photo shops will print up personalized bags so you can sling your ethics over your shoulder. Or wear your CSR commitments on your wrist (what about a company-branded 'clean lunch bag'.)

N is for the great bag Nag. Nag your local shops to ask people if they want a bag. Nag major retailers for a bag-free lead (like Sainsbury's bag free day, and the town of Modbury). Nag supermarkets to offer smaller snack sacks for lunch. Nag government over legislation change.

O is for Office bag. There is an office brolly. Why not an office bag? Leave a canvas tote by the door for dashing colleagues to grab (the plain ones can borrow it too).

P is for Preparation. A reusable bag by the door. A nylon convertible bag in your pocket. An online reminder on your monitor. Whatever it takes.

Q is for Quirky. Come up with your own campaign. Think outside the box. Let us know about it. We'll pass it on.

R is for R.I.P the B.A.G. Nail a plastic bag, portentiously, to a lamppost with a short description of why you're doing it. Just don't get caught.

S is for Smart Technology and biodegradable corn Starch. They make bags out of them you know? Bags that breathe (great for storing fresh produce), are durable and compost when you've used them out. Supply follows demand. Tantrum time?

T is for Thanks, but no thanks. Was that too hard? Try it again. Ta for the offer of a plastic bag but No thanks Plastic Ain't my bag. Gets easier every time. Try our 'Art of Saying No' assertiveness course if you're still struggling.

U is for Ugly bags. The plastic might be a little worn, the patina a bit crumpled it's not ugly it's just had a lot of life. Face it, we're all going to get that way, one day. Learn to love 'ug'.

V is for baffled Vendor. The other day we were caught on the hop. We had to accept a plastic bag from the fruit and veg man. Imagine his surprise when, the next day, we thanked him for his troubles and gave it back to him (folded and laundered of course.) We had a chat. And now he asks if people want a bag. Us English are an eccentic lot, play on it.

W is for Wicker. Leave a wicker basket by the door. Not only will it divert plastic from landfill it may encourage spontaneous picnics and office frollickry.

X is for XXL. Plastic is passé. Big bags are hot this season. Big bags carry more. Like your shopping and gym kit and filofax and Miniature Schnauzer.

Y Like you have to ask? Because five hundred years is a long time. Because natural resources are in short supply. Because it's hard to communicate if you're a seal with its nose trapped in parcel tape roll and plastic bags. Because it's easy to decline.

Z is for Zeitgeist. 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has.' (Margaret Mead)

Plastic Ain't My Bag: The Science Bit

500 billion plastic bags are consumed worldwide every year. That's 1 million bags a minute. (www.reusablebags.com)

167 bags used by the average British consumer, per year. (WRAP, 2005)

500 years, the time it takes a plastic bag to decay in landfill. (Change the World for a Fiver)

4.175 million years. The 'average' person's plastic bag legacy.

Only 1 in 200 plastic bags are recycled (Telegraph Magazine, 2007)

½ penny. The cost to supermarkets of producing 1 typical plastic bag (Information supplied to Scottish Parliament by the Carrier Bag Consortium)

£64-£80 million. The amount UK retailers spend per year on providing plastic bags to their customers (Information supplied to Scottish Parliament by the Carrier Bag Consortium)

International Activism

From Australia to Zanzibar. How the world got drastic around plastic.

Australia: Environment Ministers have challenged retailers to voluntarily reduce the 6.9 billion bags used each year.
They are now looking at introducing mandatory measures.
In 2003, Coles Bay in Tasmania banned plastic bags altogether and provided residents with alternatives such as calico bags.

Bangladesh: In March 2002, Bangladesh slapped an outright ban on all polythene bags after they were found to have been the main culprit during the 1988 and 1998 floods that submerged two-thirds of the country. The problem was that discarded bags were choking the drainage system.
Bangladeshi jute makers are set to benefit from the government ban of polythene bags introduced this week.

Denmark: As part of a larger packaging tax introduced in 1994, Denmark taxed plastic bags. The stated aim was to promote the use of reusable bags. However, the tax was paid by retailers when they purchased bags, rather than by shoppers. Still, consumption of paper and plastic bags has declined by 66%.

Denmark has also employed a general waste tax that has proven to be very successful. The waste tax is differentiated so that it is most expensive to landfill waste, cheaper to incinerate it and tax exempt to recycle it. Also (as described above), they have so-called "green" taxes on packaging, plastic bags, disposable tableware and nickel-cadmium batteries.

Hong Kong: In 2006, the voluntary pact on plastic bag reduction was launched by the government and since then, supermarkets have handed out 80 million fewer plastic bags. Since early this year, the Environmental Protection Department has signed the voluntary pact with 10 major supermarket and retail-outlet chains. Besides the Voluntary Agreement, there are also campaigns on plastic bag reduction organized by green groups, including the current "No Plastic Bag Day" campaign and "Green Newsstands Label" campaign. The "No Plastic Bag Day" campaign is organized by the Green Student Council with the support from the Environment Department. The first Tuesday of each month is now designated as "No Plastic Bag Day". Consumers are encouraged to bring their own shopping bags or to donate $0.5 for each plastic bag they ask for.

Ireland: Ireland took the lead in Europe, slapping a tax on plastic bags in 2002. The Irish government says that the levy has cut their use there by more than 95%. The tax, known as the 'plas tax', has also raised millions of euros in revenue which is to be used for environmental projects.

Maharashtra: In August 2005, the government in the western Indian state of Maharashtra has banned the sale and use of plastic bags.
Although the sale of bags would be banned, manufacturing would be allowed as companies could sell them in other parts of the country

Paris: The city of Paris has decided to ban non-biodegradable plastic bags in large stores as of 2007, in an effort to cut down on pollution.

Rwanda: In 2004, thousands of people were encouraged to take the day off work to help pick up some of the plastic bags which littered the country.Then in January 2006, Rwanda cracked down on the use of plastic bags in favour of paper bags. They have stopped traders from importing and selling them and shops have been banned from giving plastic bags to their customers.

South Africa: In South Africa, plastic bags have been dubbed the 'national flower' because so many can be seen flapping from fences and caught in bushes. In response, in May 2003, South Africa introduced legislation to ban thin, flimsy plastic bags in favour of new, thicker, stronger ones which consumers would have to buy. The idea being that shoppers would either have to take bags with them when they go shopping, or buy the new, thicker plastic bags that are easier and more profitable to recycle.

Taiwan: In October 2001, Taiwan introduced a ban on distribution of free single-use plastic bags by government agencies, schools and the military. In 2003, the ban was extended to include supermarkets, fast food outlets and department stores, and will eventually apply to street vendors and food dealers. Customers must now pay NT$1 to NT$2 for a bag


United Kingdom: While a plastic bag tax has yet to be adopted by the government (shame on you), they fully support reusable carrier bags and some retailers have taken up the cause. "Point systems", "Bag for life" and "penny back" schemes have been introduced by some of the larger supermarket chains. Gold stars go to IKEA who do not offer plastic bags and Sainsbury's, who recently had a "Bag for life" day where they handed out free long-life bags to encourage sustainable shopping. In the absence of a clear lead from goverenment or corporations certain councils and towns have taken the initiative. The town of Modbury in Devon became the first plastic-bag free town in Europe after all 43 of its independent retailers committed to binning the bag. Citizen copycatting, seriously encouraged.

Zanzibar, Tanzania: In July 2006, Zanzibar banned the import and production of plastic bags in an attempt to save its threatened ecology.

Plastic Ain't My Bag: Get Involved (As a Punter)

Hello. There's very little 'science bit' to this. Action 01: Decline Plastic Bags Whenever Possible. Then get on with your day.

Plastic isn't all bad. If you were in hospital and needed apolethylene particulate debris joint replacement you would be very glad of those advances made in polyethylene in 1933. We applaud its invention. But we are rotten at its disposal.

The average lifespan of a plastic bag is 500 years and six days. That's 500 years degrading in a toxic landfill site and six days transporting shopping (That is, providing it's recycled at all. Nine out of ten plastic bags live under the sink). It's not a great use of our rich, fast-depleting mineral resources. Particularly when the alternatives are prettier, kinder and don't cut into your hands.

Declining takes a little preparation, a little determination and - ever so occasionally - a bit of confrontation. Our 'Art of Saying No' assertiveness course can help you with the latter. And the A-Z of bag activism can give you suggestions of a host of alternatives. (Droplift! Regift! Guerilla Switch!) Beyond that the mantra is refuse, reduce, reuse.

Essayist and poet E.B. White once said, 'I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.' A canvas tote by the door makes planning our day that bit easier; the good time bit, we leave to you.

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