Readers' letters - March 12

Regarding plastic carrier bags, I can’t help feeling like a criminal when walking out of a shop after purchasing goods, even though I carry my own bags in which to place them.

I find this in particular with departmental stores after buying personal items, for instance clothes, perfume, shoes and make up.

Yes, I know we have the receipts as proof of purchase, but it still makes me feel that something is not quite right.

I really do begrudge being charged 5p per carrier bag used in each store.

I do feel we should have bags for life when purchasing food at supermarkets, that stands to reason, but I also think it is disgraceful that the major departmental stores have not yet had adequate time to convert to supplying paper carrier bags free of charge.

Are they making a profit on these carriers, as I understand they cost only 1p to produce?

If Primark and Oasis can do it, then why can’t they?

There is nothing more uplifting than walking out of a ‘posh’ shop having purchased something new in a fancy carrier bag displaying my purchase and advertising the store it was bought from, rather than searching for my own in a handbag at the counter and feeling like a second rate citizen.

Ann Dawson

via email

litter

Patronising royal request

I may be a bit old-fashioned, but, like others, I find the request to ‘Clean for the Queen’ more than a touch patronising.

Undoubtedly something should be done. I don’t suppose the present incumbent of Buckingham Palace has ever had to do cleaning of any kind, inside or out, so why bring the dear lady into the argument?

I remember once, while stationed in Germany, taking a short leave to Kolding in Denmark, my colleagues and I were amazed at the cleanliness. It was so obvious. But as for the streets of the UK, do parents and teachers impress upon children the need to be tidy? By not doing so it seems obvious to assume that some parents are already second or third generation litterers, so it is hardly surprising when their offspring continue the tradition.

Furthermore, the actions of a Government which donates millions of pound of aid to overseas countries, astounds and dismays the electorate when it is patently obvious it would be better spent at home correcting our own problems. One has to ask why our Government is so profligate, to the detriment of our own well-being.

One has to wonder if there are enough waste bins in which to dispose rubbish? The answer once again, we are told, is down to lack of funds, as with so many other denied essentials.

Although ‘Clean for the Queen’ may, for some, be a great idea and probably beneficial for a while, it would be much better if people cleaned for themselves and the benefit of neighbours, and the towns and cities in which they live. But unless children and, I’m sorry to say, many older people who should know better, take more pride in their surrounds, things are unlikely to improve.

Ernest Lundy

Address supplied

litter

Clean up for community

Well done to volunteers who have been ‘cleaning for the Queen’.

There is far too much litter and any cleaning up is welcomed. I am no royalist but having a litter-free environment is positive for both wildlife and the human community.

Jane via email