We all damage the environment – some more than others

I read the article at the weekend by Environment Minister Phil Woolas on the subject of how it was immoral for us to drink bottled water, and I have to say a small part of me was really pleased.

Now personally I’m not one for bringing morals into politics. I mean – I think its immoral pensioners like my Nana struggle on her state pension, while the Prime Minister decides to bail out Northern Rock, costing all of us thousands in the process. But hey – that’s morals for you isn’t it.

Prior to looking at bottles water, it was the done thing to attack the use of plastic bags. Oh they are terrible. Terrible for the environment. But not as bad as having kids – a point I will come on to later.

Now the same people who have been banging on about getting rid of plastic bags are those who will buy their weekly water in plastic bottles.

I would suggest the environmental cost of transporting 1000 plastic bags (for those who haven’t seen how they are packed – they could fit in my briefcase) would be considerably less than transporting 1000 empty (let alone full of water) plastic bottles.

Then of course I would be surprised to learn that all those water bottles are used time and time again. My plastic bags are.

Then we can come to landfill. According to the Treasury, “0.2% of the average household dustbin is plastic carrier bags… hence a tax on plastic carrier bags alone would be unlikely to have an significant impact on volumes of waste” (Plastic Bag Tax Assessment, HM Treasury, December 2002)

Would I be wrong in suggesting that plastic bottles would form a higher percentage of the average household dustbin? Probably not. And then when we learn that disposable nappies make up 6% of what is sent to landfill we start to get a much clearer picture of what should really be taxed on environmental grounds.

What it all comes down to is downright hypocrisy. If you have 2 kids, and have used disposable nappies; have taken them on holidays abroad, and have bought them a car, what right do you have to tell me with no kids, therefore no nappies and so on to tell me it’s immoral to use a plastic bag or buy bottled water?

Now I don’t buy bottled water – I use a filter for my tap water. I re-use my plastic bags. I have a wormery for gods sake, but lets be clear. Human being impact on the environment. Those bananas you eat were not grown in this country – they were shipped or even flown here. There is an impact to that. Driving my diet coke to the supermarket for me to buy must damage the environment just as much as the water that is bottled (probably in the same factory). Everything we do impacts on the environment. As soon as people understand that, the better.

Before politicians bang on about what we should and should not do, I suspect most politicians need to examine their own lives first. I just wonder how many have more than one child, and used disposable nappies? I suspect no politician including Mr Woolas will be introducing a nappy tax anytime soon.