The Devonshire town of Modbury introduced a ban on plastic bags in April 2007, and 80 British towns have followed suit. Bag-bans are already in place in San Francisco, Uganda, Taiwan and Bangladesh, and one has just been announced in China. Ireland has a ‘plastax’, and London’s councils have proposed a similar scheme for the capital. Prime Minister Gordon Brown described single-use plastic bags as ‘the most visible symbol of environmental waste’, and has committed to eliminating them from the UK altogether. The first Manifesto Club ‘Club Night’ of 2008 asked how on Earth plastic shopping bags have caused such controversy....
Speakers: Tom Mower, designer and Manifesto Club member Colin Friedlos, founder of the community action group Concerned Residents Against Pointless Recycling Vicky Richardson, editor, Blueprint magazine Angus Kennedy, Manifesto Club member and author of Brown's got a brand new bag
Questions the speakers addressed included: is the plastic bag a consumer convenience, or a senseless waste? Is there a more convenient alternative? Is it really time to bin the bag?
'Scientists and environmentalists have attacked a global campaign to ban plastic bags which they say is based on flawed science and exaggerated claims.'
Date: Tuesday 29 January 2008
Where: Upstairs in The Old Queen's Head, 44 Essex Road, Islington. See a map.
Nearest tube: Angel
Cost: Free to Manifesto Club Members, £5 non-members (pay on the door). See how to join the Manifesto Club.
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