Consumerism and carrier bag re-use

Posted on | February 3, 2010 | 2 Comments

UK energy supply woes

On today’s news, the OfGem Chief executive, Alistair Buchanan, warns that Britain’s privatised energy suppliers will struggle to deliver supplies of electricity and gas in the coming decade. Also he warns that many people will struggle to afford the rising energy bills.

Given that it is several decades since the alarm bells were ringing, and even longer since the environmental damage caused by chronic Consumerism was well publicised, one wonders what to do?

A search on Google suggests that a tourist 747 uses 300 gallons (about 1.5 tonnes) just to take-off. A carrier bag weighs about 1 gram, hence it takes about 2 gram of hydrocarbons to make it. Some bags are much heavier, but re-usable in many ways.

http://66.102.9.132/search?q=cache:4rOFzdUkEMwJ:www.carrierbagtax.com/downloads/Carrier_bags_Norwegian_report_summary.doc+oil+needed+to+make+1+carrier+bag

The government could either quit supporting and promoting Consumerism (yes, it is a religion; the dominant religion of the western world), and make serious inroads into solving the problem. Or they could make a big fuss about re-using carrier bags and engender a false sense of ‘doing our bit’.

A significant difference between carrier bags and 747 take-offs is that all carrier bags are potentially useful in other ways – recycling in fleece manufacture, storing and carrying other things, use as rubbish bags. (Aim to dispose of your non-recyclable household rubbish in ONE carrier bag per week and you will really achieve something!). When aviation fuel is burned, it has gone forever.

( One tourist take-off ) = 1,500,000
( one carrier bag ) 2

750,000 : 1

Which do you suppose our elected leaders will choose? The token or the cultural transformation?

I fear people will still be trekking to the supermarket in the 4×4s, tourist brochures in their hand, and reusing their carrier bags.

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