Shopping and global warming

THE high street is slowly dying and many think that it will never recover as more and more people shop on-line.

But things could change. Why? Global warming!

The modern method of shopping on-line may mean that the shopper doesn't leave the house, and doesn't burn up any carbon, but the great big diesel van that delivers the shopping does. Not only does that van burn carbon, but it emits some of the most noxious gases going. The company that runs the on-line site probably pays next to nothing in tax either, and so does absolutely nothing for society.

In earlier days people would walk to town or catch the bus. They'd visit several shops, buy various items, and then go home by bus or foot. Today more and more shopping is done by pressing screens, and then waiting for a tuppenny item (something worth very little) to be delivered to your door by an enormous, polluting van.

The day will come when all this will have to change. On-line shopping is dirty, does pollute, is one of the causes of global warming and contributes next to nothing to society. The once a week mammoth shop, using your car, is still less polluting than having vans delivering to your door, sometimes several times a day. It might not happen tomorrow, but sometime soon the High Street could be back!

Brian Simmonds, Belmont Heights, Hatch Warren.