this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2024
417 points (99.3% liked)

World News

38500 readers
2651 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Hailing the success of carrier bag laws, the Marine Conservation Society urges nations to push forward with plans for other single-use items

The number of plastic bags washed up on UK beaches has fallen by 80% over a decade, since a mandatory fee was imposed on shoppers who opt to pick up single-use carrier bags at the checkout.

According to the Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) annual litter survey, volunteers found an average of one plastic bag every 100 metres of coastline surveyed last year, compared to an average of five carrier bags every 100 metres in 2014.

The charity, which has monitored beach litter for the past three decades, said the drop was undoubtedly due to the introduction of mandatory charges, which can range from 5p to 25p, for single-use plastic bags.

Lizzie Price, Beachwatch programme manager at MCS, said: “It is brilliant to see policies on single-use plastics such as carrier bags working.”

top 16 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] A_A@lemmy.world 23 points 1 month ago (2 children)

This 80% reduction endangers new ecosystems feeding on plastics /😋 joke
Serious now : Bravo for cleaning your places.

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I’ve been really happy with the ban in NJ also. I had so much fun laughing at the angry people at the grocery store when the law went into effect.

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

For sure, it’s annoying. I have so many bags now, and still don’t always remember to bring bags

[–] azenyr@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

Oh no, what will turtles eat now? They will all die from hunger! 🤔 /s

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I hate to say it: what this says is that people in the UK are very willing to litter and that the fix was making it so that they don't have things to litter.

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Maybe. Have you ever been to a landfill? It’s critical how high the fence is, keeping all the plastic bags from escaping. They really catch the wind

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

That’s true but we’ve also seen photos the day after a festival and it is shocking how people in the UK DGAF.

[–] Hugohase@startrek.website 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Are they talking about something like this

Or something like this

The first one has been forbitten in my country for ~10years and nobody seems to miss them. The second one is used, rarely, for takeout and mostly replaced with paper bags.

[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I think technically it's both, but it's mainly focused on the former - the shop and supermarket ones. You now pay 20 or 30p for them - previously when they were free, they would sometimes force a bag on you, even if you didn't want one (I guess to walk around advertising their shop).

[–] Hugohase@startrek.website 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Thanks for the answer. I was really surprised how little people complained when the shop ones stopped existing. Seems like induced demand. Back then I kept a few, because they are so handy. Well, never used one.

[–] fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Here they still exist - they just make you pay if you want a new one. I (and seemingly most people) use them all the time still, but I guess more people reuse them more times now. I'm quite happy to pay 30p for one when the old ones get used up. I think they're a bit sturdier than they used to be too - so less likely for the handles to snap when you've still got a mile to walk home.

I guess it mostly cut down on unwanted ones getting littered etc. Now they're valuable, all the more reason to hoard them in a cupboard in the kitchen.

Where you are it sounds like they stopped existing - what do you put your food shopping in? Do you still have a thousand left that you previously hoarded?

[–] Redex68@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

I've been using the same two synthetic fabric bags for literally 6 years and still haven't changed them. I sewed up the edges 3 or 4 times to reinforce them, but they're still kicking and are definitely gonna be around for at least another year. Plus they're small enough to carry around all the time so I literally haven't used a store bag in 6 years.

[–] Hugohase@startrek.website 3 points 1 month ago

I am talking about Austria. Its mostly reusable ones made of fabric, or really sturdy plastic/wofen plastic. If you need a oneway one it's paper. We anyway had to pay for the shoppingbags as long as I can remember.

[–] nulluser@programming.dev 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] Hugohase@startrek.website 2 points 1 month ago

Sorry, fixed it.

[–] MediaBiasFactChecker@lemmy.world -4 points 1 month ago

The Guardian Media Bias Fact Check Credibility: [Medium] (Click to view Full Report)

The Guardian is rated with Medium Creditability by Media Bias Fact Check.

Bias: Left-Center
Factual Reporting: Mixed
Country: United Kingdom
Full Report: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-guardian/

Check the bias and credibility of this article on Ground.News


Thanks to Media Bias Fact Check for their access to the API.
Please consider supporting them by donating.

Footer

Media Bias Fact Check is a fact-checking website that rates the bias and credibility of news sources. They are known for their comprehensive and detailed reports.

Beep boop. This action was performed automatically. If you dont like me then please block me.💔
If you have any questions or comments about me, you can make a post to LW Support lemmy community.