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Before the grass has thickened on the roadside and leaves have started growing on the tree as is a perfect time to see, how dirty Britain has become. The pavements are stained with chewing gum, the gutters are full of discarded fast-food cartons. Years ago, I remember travelling abroad and being saddened by plastic bags, discarded bottles and soiled nappies at the edge of every road. Nowadays, Britain seems to look at least as bad.

The problem is that the rubbish created by our increasingly mobile lives lasts a lot longer than before. It stays in the undergrowth for years; a reminder of what a tatty little country we have become now.

It is estimated that 10 billion plastic bags have been given to shoppers. These will take anything from 100 to 1000 years to rot. However, it is not as if there is no solution to this. A few years ago, the Irish government introduced a tax on non -recyclable carrier bags and in three months reduced their use by 90%. When he was a minister, Michael Meacher attempted to introduce a similar arrangement in Britain. The plastics industry protested, of course, the idea was killed before it could draw breath.