I stood and watched a market trader selling hair scrunchies and bobbles, each one was maximum two inches and 20 grams, but each one sold went into a plastic carrier bag.
At a visit to a trade fair recently I was shocked at the amount of companies claiming green credentials who without a care in the world were handing out catalogues in plastic bags. Now I am sure they would claim that they "hated doing it but it was essential for the business"... Come to me and you won't get a plastic bag, you might if you spend enough, get a paper bag made from recycled newspapers in Delhi by street orphans.
All the bags we sell are either Fair Trade, recycled (or both) or made by cooperatives or NGO's. We attempt to sell bags that have the smallest impact on the planet but the largest benefit. It is no use selling a Jute bag that is air freighted into the country from Calcutta, as this will negate the effect of using an eco friendly material like Jute.
As well as our utter contempt and disgust with the misuse of plastic bags for uneccessary items, we also feel that not enough emphasis is being placed on the first "R" of the three R's, namely "REDUCE". It is well and good shouting the word "Recycle" from every roof top, but reducing the amout of things we use in the first place, is a first step to better recycling. Less stuff is less stuff to recycle. Try to cut down on what you buy, then try to cut down on the packaging of what you buy, and the task of recycling what remains is not so daunting.
Rosie and I are giving up our life in bricks and mortar to go travelling in a motorhome. We weighed up our footprint from living in a house and driving to work etc with living in a diesel powered motorhome and it was no contest. We can use biodiesel where possible, we will be self sufficient power wise with solar power and because of our limited space we will be more efficiant with our buying and recycling. Using Bokashi Bins for food waste and giving away the resulting compost, and using the many council run sites to recycle our other waste.Sadly we are not able to have a composting toilet, but perhaps one will be invented that will fit into the tiny space we have available. We will earn our living by doing festivals and markets and continue to spread the message about plastic bags.
Bad Bag Facts!