The only resource we are now allowed to waste is our own time

Convenience has become a dirty world. Pre-prepared food – chopped fruit and vegetables or ready meals, wrapped in plastic or otherwise – was once associated with prosperity and freedom from toil; now it is sneered at as a decadent symbol of a society hooked on “easy solutions”. Nipping in your car to see a friend is bad; doing the same journey on public transport is good, and how long it takes is irrelevant. The only resource we’re permitted to waste is our time.

It is, of course, right that we should try to live sustainably and be conscious of the implications of our choices. But the experience of the Evans family from Bristol is instructive. Last week, BBC News followed their attempt to live without single-use plastic. The family’s efforts were heroic, the costs exorbitant.

Without plastic, all the fresh food they had to buy wasted much more quickly, meaning many more trips to the shops (did all those extra journeys cancel out the environmental impact of their reduced plastic consumption, I wonder?). Their shopping bills went up from £60 a week to more than £100. “The big changes are time, what I’ve lost in convenience, and cost, because it isn’t a cheap way of shopping,” said Mrs Evans.

Perhaps the family would do it all again, in which case good for them. Plastic-free aisles in supermarkets seem a useful idea, giving consumers a choice and revealing their true preferences. Who would quibble

Hatred of convenience and ‘easy solutions’ has become a moral crusade – and a hypocritical one at that

at telegraph.co.uk/ opinion if entrepreneurs came up with biodegradable packaging that is cheaper and less environmentally costly than plastic?

But all nuance has left this debate, along with any sense that policies should balance consumer and green interests. When the discussion is all about banning this item or that, or imposing attention-seeking new taxes, it’s clear we’re beyond the point of gentle encouragement to live better and in the middle of a full-scale assault on convenience.

What thought has been given to the consequences? Last week, the Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson warned that banning plastic straws, as suggested by ministers, would be terrible for disabled people, who need them to drink independently. Paper, glass or stainless steel alternatives are not always safe – particularly with hot drinks. The elderly and infirm could lose out from a tax on single-use plastic, too. Pre-chopped vegetables in plastic containers are often bought by older people because they struggle to cut them themselves. If it is hard for you to cook, because you lack time or the physical capacity, what is wrong with buying a ready meal?

The arguments are becoming fantastical. Many of the much-mooted alternatives to plastic are less green than what they seek to replace, because they cost more in energy and water to produce. Packaging is attacked as wasteful, even if it is fully recyclable. But facts hardly seem to matter. Hatred of “easy solutions” has become a moral crusade, and a hypocritical one at that. Convenience is fine if you’re the sort of person who uses Amazon same-day delivery or eats Deliveroo takeaways, but apparently not if you’re an ordinary shopper.