The War on the Plastic Bag

by Stephen Moss

Plastic bags are used for an average of 20 minutes each, but can then stick around for 1,000 years (presumably this is an estimate, rather than an established fact, as plastic bag production was low in 1006). They get into the sea and kill whales and dolphins, which confuse them with jellyfish, eat them and choke. There are also a large number littering my street. They are clearly a menace, but does anyone know how many there really are - not just in my street, but in Britain as a whole?

- The Guardian, 6 June 2006 -
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