Who says an individual can’t make a difference?

I live in a leafy part of north-west London where there are lots of trees. As I turn from my street into the main road, there’s a tree that has a black plastic bag fluttering from one of the branches. It’s been there years and years and years. It’s a constant reminder to me of how plastic bags are messing up our environment and how incredibly slow these things are to decompose.
In my book, therefore, Rebecca Hosking is a heroine. She managed to persuade all 43 shopkeepers in her home town of Modbury to replace the use of plastic bags with reusable cloth bags. Nearly 80 other towns are now in various stages of introducing their own bans. Last week, the 32 London boroughs said that they would seek a new law to enable them to do the same. This week, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that he would seek a meeting with supermarkets to see how plastic bags could be eliminated.
You can read a profile of Rebecca Hosking here here and learn how to make your own cloth bag here.


2 Comments

  • Mwiinga Mercy Mutinta

    The greatest pleasure in one’s life is to do that which others think you cannot do. One can truely make a difference despite what the rest think. Courage is what is needed.

  • Liz

    As a campaigner in this area, I was pleased with London Councils decision but am concerned that people still have a tendency to criticise only plastic bags. We need to significantly reduce our use of all throw-out shopping bags, plastic and paper, and cut back on unnecessary packaging.