How many bags for life to make me immortal?

AS we bought yet another Habitat bag for life from Sainsbury’s, I considered that we now had enough such designated shopping holdalls in reinforced paper, canvas and that indefinable plastic material that could be used to coat a rocket to the moon, to outlive Methuselah.

Once upon a time, everyone used a disposable plastic bag that was free at all stores, without a thought for the environment. The first time I didn’t get one was at a mini mart in Donegal when we were visiting our daughter Siobhan.

The shopping piled up on the counter in front of me with no carrying receptacle offered.

“Er, could I have a bag, please?” delivered in an English accent, brought a superior look from a country already taking the preservation of the world seriously while the UK frittered away resources, plus a 10 cent charge.

Since then I have tried to get into the habit of always having a bag in the car but invariably misjudge our ability to turn down a bargain and end up with stuff we bought on impulse for which we need an extra bag. Or two.

We have a wide range from such establishments as Lidl, Aldi, Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s, Home Bargains, Farmfoods, Wilkinson’s, Iceland, the Co-op and B&M.

For a time, we even had a Harrods bag although that is possibly now being used for shopping at a mini mart in Donegal.

I like to think we are saving the world and in an effort to put all the excess bags for life to good use, Maria uses a couple for laundry and another pair for collecting the grass during the mowing season.

Even so, Methuselah lived to be 969. Of course, by then they will be someone else’s problem but it does pose the question: are bags for life biodegradable?

Or will they exist forever?