A rubbish lorry pulls up at sea wall and its container slowly tips. As its jaws start to open a tangled mass of bags and packaging begins to slide towards the sea. You know there must be some camera trick going on, but it’s still hard not to shout at the TV: ‘Stop! Don’t do it!’
This is the shock opening to BBC’s documentary series, War on Plastic, (aired in June, now available on iPlayer). In this programme, following David Attenborough’s exposé of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Anita Rani ride the wave of environmental concern, exploring our problem with plastic use and waste.
We see Rani delivering milk early in the morning and seeking to speak to company representatives about the undisclosed presence of plastic in baby wipes. She marches to McDonalds’ headquarters with a petition against their free plastic toys, accompanied by eager children and a trolley of Happy Meal tat.
Misogyny, rights & Rowling
It might have seemed as if the isolation of lockdown was making people mad last month when the stars of …