The proliferation of plastic bags and related products has now reached alarming proportions causing irreparable damage to the environment.

As plastic is relatively cheap and durable its use or misuse in the last 50 years has resulted in widespread pollution as it can release dangerous chemicals into the soil which may also seep into the water table. Its myriad particles in the air we breathe can affect our hormone levels and are the cause of many respiratory diseases.

The media recently aired a very incisive warning stating: “A plastic bag takes seconds to make, a few minutes to use and over five centuries to disintegrate.”

In the light of the above, I recall my month’s stay a few summers ago in Istica in southern Sicily, a charming baroque city that like Mdina was badly damaged in the earthquake of 1693. Istica is proud of its sensitivity to the natural environment and has now carved a name for itself in organic farming, especially carrots and zucchini.

Their praiseworthy efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags deserves to be highlighted, as every shop I visited only used paper bags of all shapes and sizes.

As in Abruzzo, the ecclesiastical authorities of Istica are very sensitive to the environment and in an aide memoire for confession penitents are asked: “Do you care for the environment?”