Horray for plastic bags

[jackangel]

Someone once said to me of Lordship Lane that ?the circus came to town . . . and it stayed?. I think that?s a little unfair. But, if you look past the side shows, acrobatics and parades, there is a depressing (to some) movement to coagulate everybody?s personal outlook into a kind of corporate bog.

Is it the old kicking the dog syndrome? Feel impotent to change the big issues, so start a lynch mob to push a smallish, borrowed band wagon?

A friend visiting this weekend warned me that anyone seen carrying a plastic carrier bag on Lordship Lane would be strip-searched by vigilantes before being extradited to Peckham. I did not go out.

But the plastic bag is a great model of technological engineering design and is probably the most reused ?disposable? item in the West. Unlike most other containers, it uses a tiny amount of plastic; just enough for the job at a fraction of the cost.

Irresponsible use and bad waste management could possibly endanger wildlife ? but not in Lordship Lane. Bags can be unsightly blowing around bushes and trees ? but not in Lordship Lane.

What effect the flight paths into Heathrow and City airports have on East Dulwich is another matter.

If you genuinely want to help the environment, you can coexist with the immensely useful plastic bag and make a difference. Here are a few starting ideas:

Insist on tap water in bars and restaurants. Never buy bottled water. (Come on, look at the miles travelled, the un-reused, over-engineered container, the health concerns for a stale food product and chemical leaching!). Spend the money you save on, say, alcohol.

Are you happy stuffing your wheelie bin with excessive wrapping? Week after week.

Shop only where you get a good feeling (no, not just the off-licence with the money saved from the first idea).

Oh, and stop bloody flying and pretending you can justify it!

[Alan Medic]

'Shop only where you get a good feeling' is an excellent idea. Maybe not good for the economy though.

[david_carnell]

Alan - seriously, you'll scare the horses by bringing these old threads back to life. People don't like remembering the past. It's too much like the blitz.

[Alan Medic]

Jesus, David. It's hardly a thread with one previous post.