Picture from Talking Retail

Yesterday a law came in stating that supermarkets must charge 5p for a plastic bag, mainly to try and curtail their use as the humble carrier bag is a bit of a bastard that clutters up the countryside and gets in the sea and usually ends up being re-discovered when they cut open a dead whale. This charge is long overdue as most shops have a reusable bag on sale yet for some reason despite the pre-warning this seemed to cause all manner of confusion and resentment. Social media was full of people saying they were appalled and would refuse to pay and the less intelligent section of society seemed to think they were being royally conned out of their hard signed on for money. As with all laws designed to supposedly help, this has not been thought through. Supermarkets shopping is very rarely spontaneous because they are usually the venue for a weekly shop involving shopping lists, so a customer might spend £50 in which case they surely deserve a bag. On the other hand I have gone to my corner shop for a newspaper, pint of milk and packet of cigarettes and been given a carrier bag. This is the sort of practise that needs stopping as it is wasteful because nobody walks too far to their local shop so a handful of items are easily carried home. 

Of course a lot of people did the joke about how much money the kitchen cupboard full of carrier bags is worth now, and someone beat me to saying it on social media but I did consider setting up a stall outside a supermarket selling second hand carrier bags for 4p each to see how far it went before I was escorted off the premises. Will this be something that we tell future generations about with misty-eyed nostalgia? Our grandchildren might never know what it was like to have a carrier bag full of carrier bags in a kitchen cupboard. 

The thing that annoys and intrigues me, going back to badly thought out laws, is where was this spirited 'fuck you I won't do what you tell me' attitude when the smoking ban came in? Everyone smoked their last indoor cigarettes on the Saturday night down the pub and by the time we returned to the pub the following Sunday all the ashtrays had been removed and nobody made a fuss. I never saw a challenge made to the ban, everyone just went outside, even people in the roughest most criminal pubs. 

Anyway, I have the answer to the carrier bag problem and it is simple. Buy a reusable canvas bag for £6 by clicking on the 'Shop and Donations' tab above this blog and you could be the proud owner of a reusable and pretty sexy looking Sunday Alternative bag.

The Sunday Alternative Podcast #58 is available from here

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October Housekeeping

Donations have slowed down a bit and this has had an adverse effect on filming plans. Ideas are waiting to become reality so please do consider making a donation using the PayPal button above.

In return for your gift I will make entertainment that I will put online to be enjoyed free of charge by everyone. Comedy sketches, documentaries, short films and podcasts are waiting to be made so dig deep.

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Some ways to help:

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