Nappy libraries and glass milk bottles: past ideas for a plastic-free future | Lucy Siegle

To emulate forward-thinking Penzance, now plastic-free, we should hark back to yesteryear. A few choice items could curb a ruinous plastic habitPlastic is firmly out of fashion, with everyone from the government to supermarkets pledging to reduce use and fight pollution. But turning the tide will require a herculean effort. The US shale gas boom means that the price of feedstock for the plastic industry has plummeted. Major chemical corporations have invested $180bn in new production facilities to come on stream in the next 10 years, increasing global output by 40%. If we don't want it to flow our way, we need to stand firm.I've just returned from Penzance, designated the UK's first plastic-free town by Surfers Against Sewage. This weekend it hosted residents from Aberporth, west Wales, with aspirations to follow suit; shop and cafe owners discussed the best solutions for denting the UK's annual 3.7m-tonne plastic habit (2.2m of that being packaging). It was an impressive display of what we might refer to as the Dunkirk spirit. Continue reading...