Did anyone else know it was ‘Buy Nothing Day’? I had no idea, but I do remember reading about the campaign months ago in a book. I have to admit I went out this morning; brought some bits and even placed an order on HMV for Christmas presents. Ironically it was one of my buys that informed me! The Guide (The Guardian’s wonderful weekly guide) contains a humorous cartoon with a statement underneath:
You’ve brought the Guardian, now take a 24-hour holiday from consumerism for Buy Nothing Day
It’s a shame the campaign is not more widely advertised as I would have liked to try and take part. I have ultimately decided to try the challenge tomorrow, which should be easier as it’s Sunday – nice.
But, seriously I do think that Buy Nothing Day is a good effort to tackle consumerism. The underlying tactic is to make people think about what they need, over what they want. Generally what we want thus buy, we never actually need. Employing this method of thinking has certainly helped me to limit my spending over the last year. I urge you to give it a go, save your money for experiences. I promise you the feel good feeling will last much longer. Let’s roll out Buy Nothing Day to once a month, not a year.
I do love – no wait, maybe love is too strong a word – I do like my reusable bags: a) they are strong and don’t break b) I can fit quite a lot of stuff in them c) some are small enough to tie up and keep in my handbag and d) they display pretty pictures and don’t advertise huge multinational companies.
I first heard about the Welsh plastic bag ban proposals on BBC Breakfast some days ago and was instantly impressed. Finally, a decision on this island has been made to try and prevent people from engaging with disposable products. Hurrah! However I’m not sure if charging 5p for a bag will stop people from using them or simply mean that people will use them but pay for them instead. But an outright ban could be too totalitarian… I guess.
So what’s wrong with plastic bags? Why have Wales taken this stance?
The Welsh first minister, Carwyn Jones as called plastic bags “a waste of natural resources” – agreed. Up to 273 bags per Welsh household were consumed last year from supermarkets alone, indicating a consumer reliance on the disposable carrier while also highlighting the major problem of waste. Ultimately the plastic bag is designed for single meaning that local authorities can spend up to £1m clearing them every year. By imposing this ban or charge Wales expect to reduce usage by 90%.
Well, firstly it’s not just plastic bags: paper and plant material bags are also included. They all waste energy is the argument – true. So the real ban is any form of disposable bag, something the headlines are missing out.
Secondly, plastic bags, or should I say disposable bags, can be freely given out for food products that are not already packaged.
Are they really that bad?
In the grand scale of things, perhaps not: according to George Monbiot in today’s Guardian carrier bags account for 3.2% of domestic waste – not a lot really. But this one small step for man could be the giant leap to protect the environment and other species with share this planet with. I have to admit; after hearing that oestrogen is released into the oceans when the bags breakdown ultimately entering the food chain I immediately felt ill. No-one wants to be fat, infertile or cause cancer. That should be an indicator for everyone that plastic bags should be phased out.
Now go and dig out that reusable bag you promised to use.
I just read on The Guardian website that plastic bag use in Britain is once again rising after an initial fall in 2009. Figures released by the New Statesman (an official Government source) reveal that the number of bags used a month by each person in the UK fell from 11 in 2002 to 7.2 in 2009. Unfortunately this could not be sustained and figures rose to 7.7 in 2010. ‘That’s not a big rise,’ I hear you cry, however it is equivalent to 475m bags in total per month!
This has sparked the question of imposing tax on plastic bags, as seen in Ireland. In 2002 Ireland imposed a plastic bag tax resulting in a fall from 27 in 2002 to 2 on 2009. These are promising figures, but is forcing people to buy single use plastic bags the answer?
Supermarkets could simply not supply plastic bags, which could be one way of irradiating their use. Customers would have to bring their own or buy bags for life - yet supermarkets are unlikely to want to upset their customers with such drastic change.
Perhaps there should be a minimum purchase spend or minimum number of items to allow the customer to receive a free plastic bag. A huge pet hate of mine is seeing a customer carrying a sandwich or a packet of batteries in a plastic bag. Would the sandwich (already over packaged!) weigh you down if you carried it in your hand?
Customer incentives, for example extra points for reusing bags, are great methods of encouraging customers to re-use or use their own bags. I loved the idea of Tesco’s Green Clubcard points, until I realised on my receipt I was rarely rewarded. Tesco cannot expect customers to re-use bags when they cannot reward them with what they are entitled.
The bags for life on offer in supermarkets, may I put it….are somewhat… lame. I would just about remember to take them to the supermarket, but nowhere else. Maybe they should invest in designing prints that people really want to carry on their shoulders or sell bags by trendy eco-bag producers, for example Bag it Don’t Bin it. Here are a few from Bag it Don’t Bin it’s range:
To be honest, I think people have simply forgotten about the problem of plastic bags, perhaps we simply need to reinforce the issue: this video is a little weird, the plastic bag narrates the story.
I read this article some time ago in G2 (The weekday Guardian supplement) about the renaissance of the cassette tape. I found it fascinating how this music format is slowly growing in popularity again.
The article reports on Bands like Deerhunter releasing albums on cassette tapes, underground labels specialising in the format and the tributes seen on t-shirts and i-pod cases. Cassette tapes are noted for sounding different depending on the decks used and because of this are ‘cherished for their imperfections’, providing a unique sound in turn breathing ‘extra vibrancy’ into the music. This unique-ness mentioned, with its ability to sound different as well as the unspooling of the tape within leading to you nurturing back to its correct form reminded me of something I’d read in a emotional design book. The book: Emotionally Durable Design by Jonathan Chapmen discusses that objects with free will along with a touch of disobedience can stimulate a relationship with the user. Also the idea of the object being dependant on the user can develop a relationship between the two. This relationship will create an emotional response from the user towards the object, which in turn may prolong the life expectancy of the object. This certainly appears to have happened with the cassette tape with a select group of individuals.
The mix tape is mentioned, describing it as a ‘labour of love’. This reminded me of a lecture I attended by Otto Van Busch who also brought up the ‘love’ involved, as well as personal touch of creating a mix tape. Hearing and reading about mix tapes struck a chord within me, taking me back to forwarding, rewinding, stopping and eventually pushing the little red button. I feel I actually miss this about music now. Creating mix tapes was definitely an experience which will never be forgotten, but I have to admit having an mp3 player with 16GB of music is much simpler than carrying a walkman with 20 cassette tapes in my bag.
Just to finish I’d like to mention the mix tape that will stick with me forever. My brother was tentatively creating me a mix tape full of his music to force on me in 1999 when Manchester Utd won the European Cup. Upon my first listen to the tape (and even now when I dig it out) I crack up to hear ‘Schmeichel’s in the penalty box…..The Bayern Munich players are on their knees, they don’t know what’s hit them; Manchester’s hit them’. Such simple joys.
