Use your own bag, not plastic

An inconvenient truth does not just apply to disintegrating glaciers or general climate change. Neither are efforts to protect the environment confined just to protocols such as Kyoto or international agreements reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

It can start with a trip to the shop or supermarket. Using your own bag to pick up groceries and gradually turning away from plastic carriers is a major step towards reducing their use. It will take time for shoppers to adjust, it may at times even be inconvenient, but the truth is that the environment will benefit enormously by reducing the dependence on plastic.

Considering the benefits the inconvenience is quite small. Act local, think global is a catchphrase that has been in use for decades but never was there a better time to heed that advice.

We all share the same planet. What occurs in the Amazon or in Antarctica will have an impact on continents thousands of kilometres away.

One solitary plastic bag may not make any difference but a shopper deciding to bring their own bag can have a huge impact over time. But time is one thing that planet does not have. The time to act is today.