Virtue signalling about plastics

Asda in the UK are apparently fighting plastics. This is not a joke. They actually wrote this.

Plastics are good. The fact that we have a material that can be used to make bags, coffee cups etc. so cheap we can afford to throw them away is good. Being able to throw stuff away rather than having to use the same item repeatedly is good. Not having to keep the same item and wash it or put up with it being dirty is good.

They write:

Introducing a zero profit re-usable coffee cup to give customers a great value alternative to single use cups.

Trying to make stuff that’s “zero profit” is bad. A company is supposed to make a profit. If you’re not making a profit that means people are not willing to pay you more than the cost of the stuff you’re using. So by not making a profit you’re making you and your customers worse off.

Phase out 5p ‘single use’ carrier bags from its shops by the end of 2018 and introduce a donation to good causes from the sale of its “bags for life” so that charities don’t lose out.

I prefer 5p disposable bags since I can use them as rubbish bags. So Asda want to charge me more for bags that are worse by my lights. Also I don’t really trust Asda’s judgement about what causes are worth supporting, so all this crap about charity doesn’t impress me.

Asda’s President and Chief Executive, Roger Burnley said:

“I want Asda’s customers to know that they can trust us to take the lead on the issues that really matter to them. So we have challenged ourselves to look at what more we can do to reduce the amount of plastic in our business, and within our industry as a whole.”

Roger apparently doesn’t care about the issue of being me being able to carry my shopping home. That’s my number one issue. Asda are pissing off a customer so they can virtue signal by attacking a great product of industrial civilisation.