Nappy libraries and glass milk bottles: past ideas for a plastic-free future | Lucy Siegle

To emulate forward-thinking Penzance, now plastic-free, we should hark back to yesteryear. A few choice items could curb a ruinous plastic habitPlastic is firmly out of fashion, with everyone from the government to supermarkets pledging to reduce use and fight pollution. But turning the tide will require a herculean effort. The US shale gas boom means that the price of feedstock for the plastic industry has plummeted. Major chemical corporations have invested $180bn in new production facilities