Sir, – As Christmas approaches fast and the shopping spree is in full swing, it’s hard not to enjoy the festive atmosphere everywhere. Since the introduction of the plastic bag levy several years ago, our country is a cleaner place, with a lot less plastic entering our landfill sites.
However, I believe we can all do a lot more with very little effort, especially now at the height of the Christmas shopping season. The crazy amount of paper shopping bags, some of which are ornately designed with fancy paper and card, and which do not incur a levy, means our households are awash with bags that are cast aside and add to the increasing mountains of waste created at this time of year.
I suggest that we all make a conscious decision while shopping to reduce our uptake of these bags by either bringing along a bag or putting lots of items into the one bag.
Paper bags are made from scare resources, so reducing this packaging will benefit the environment.
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We live in a beautiful country, and each one of us has a responsibility to protect and care for the land which sustains us, for now and for the future generations. Let’s make the festive season a less wasteful one. – Yours, etc,
SHEILA COLUMB,
Gortahork,
Co Donegal.