Here in Blighty, today marks new laws (albeit not 100% straightforward, sadly) about the flow of plastic bags from vendor to the bottom of cupboards and drawers in our homes, not to mention into landfill and the oceans. I would estimate here at Bee HQ, we have somewhere between 30 and 50 bags dotted around the house, although that includes many Bags For Life and eco-friendly cotton or canvas ones. It is the end of the flimsy disposable plastic ones which we greet today, and not a moment too soon.

There are 3 trees on my road (Ginkgo Biloba I think – absolutely beautiful) which happen to find themselves in a somewhat exposed spot where the wind whips round them. One of the Baby Bees, when little, used to call them the ‘plastic bag trees’ as they more often than not, would have a collection of colourful but caught bags, waving like flags.

Hopefully we will begin to see the end of that today; England is way behind other parts of the world in this, and I am optimistic that it is a welcome change to the rules. As an elderly friend of mine (87 and indestructible) pointed out to me the other day, you had to take bags with you to the shops back when she was a child growing up in rural Sussex. Future generations might well look back on our love of throw-away plastic bags with disbelief as to our thoughtlessness for the environment.

It is a promising day for the seas and landfill. I am pretty good at taking bags with me when I go to the shops. Let’s see how many 5p ones I get charged for over the coming weeks. Not too many I hope.

Annie Bee x