WHEN Sainsbury’s went “green”

and promoted the idea that customers should stop using the free orange “plaggy” bags and instead buy reusable Sainsbury’s carriers, all in the name of saving the environment, my wife entered into the spirit of the thing – and bought three.

We felt proud, modestly of course, to be saving the world for future generations. But wait a minute, there seems to be a flaw in that argument.

Previously, we used the polythene carriers for all sorts of things, such as lining the kitchen waste bin. Now, we have to buy rolls of poly bags to do the job.

If we stopped using supermarket carriers to save resources and cut pollution, we were replacing them with equally polluting poly bags which we were paying for.

Just another minute then, what is the benefit? Well, Sainsbury’s shift the responsibility and the cost from their backs to ours. Now, I ask myself: was this a show of caring for the environment – ecofriendly – or just plain clever economics? Beware the ecological pretenders.

JE Langford, Darlington.