Spare a thought for plastic bags. They've had a really rotten week, victims of a modern-day witch-hunt. Even Prime Minister Gordon Brown was on their case, announcing in the Daily Mail (which launched a high-profile campaign to cut plastic bag use) that he aims to make supermarkets stop giving away free plastic bags within the next year. M&S was basking in the green spotlight after announcing it would start charging for plastic food bags from May, annoying IKEA which hastily reminded us all that it's saved 100 million plastic bags since launching a 10p charge in June 2006, then phasing out plastic bags in July 2007.

 

Why are plastic bags suddenly Billy-No-Mates? (well, Tesco is still happy to be seen with them, vowing it will resist a bag charge). Plastic bags aren't the most serious factor in climate change, but they do eat up resources and cause major pollution and damage to wildlife, on land and especially in the seas. And it's not just the odd dolphin; apparently the entire ocean is now a 'plastic soup', according to Charles Moore, the American oceanographer who founded the Algalita Marine Research Foundation and discovered the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch', a swirling mass of over 100 million tons of rubbish that's now twice the size of the continental US. When it drifts close to land, even pristine beaches suddenly become no-go zones (as seen recently in Hawaii).

 

Revelations about the amount of plastic in the sea (both big bits and microscopic particles) are sharpening the minds of many as we realise that the 17.5 billion plastic bags given away each year in the UK alone (more than 290 per person) don't just lie low in landfill after being chucked in the bin. Speaking of bins, many people are asking me what they'll line their bins with if there's no ready supply from supermarkets. This sets off a big conversation about how much rubbish we generate in the first place (mostly packaging and food) and how we might be able to reduce that waste in future. Here's where the big supermarkets could really made a significant difference, with reduced packaging and naturally biodegradable packaging.

 

I recently met several inspiring women at (go figure) an 'Inspiring Women' event (by FreshIdeas Events) including Kresse Wesling of Bio-Supplies, Babaloo and EAKO. Kresse is a real powerhouse. Instead of namby-pamby ideas about wanting to be a bit greener, she finds real, practical solutions to reducing waste. Her first company Bio-Supplies makes environmental packaging alternatives. This is just what the world needs, 'invisible' solutions that the consumer doesn't have to fret about: coffee cups made from waste grasses (instead of virgin trees), biodegradable food packaging (so one can enjoy the occasional ready meal without too much green guilt). When eco becomes easy, we're freed up to make even more significant lifestyle changes to reduce our carbon footprints. Kresse's second company Babaloo makes chic ethical and environmental products for parents and babies (including a 'bio-nappy' she's launching next year), and her new business EAKO turns industrial waste into covetable products (like transforming old fire hoses into smart bags) while giving 50% of profits to relevant charities (See Fire-Hose.co.uk). "Business is the fastest way to make change," says Kresse, and she knows what she's talking about: she won the Entrepreneurial Woman of the Future award at the Real Business awards last November. (By the way, if you have any mass quantities of unwanted textiles, she'll take them off your hands and figure out something clever to do with them.)