Sixty Years since Silent Spring (first published in West Sussex County Times)
Recycle. Repair. Save fuel. Care about Nature. They’re becoming mainstream now. But it wasn’t always thus.
Sixty years ago, things were very different. Big science and technology dominated everything. Problem with insects munching your crops? Destroy them with DDT! Want to get to the shops faster? Try our new ’59 saloon with fuel consumption lower than the Dead Sea! Everything was going to be newer, shinier, faster, bigger-and largely made of plastic.
Arriving recently at a well known supermarket, I was greeted by three wire bins boasting special offers. The first was multipacks of chocolate biscuits, buy one get one free, the second held bags of jelly sweets, two for £1, and the third was proudly declaring “Buy one multipack of crisps, get two free!”