AS an avowed carnivore, who also thoroughly enjoys all vegetables, preferably organic, please may I endorse the Agenda article by Dr Laura Wyness ("It's time to take the stigma out of red meat", the Herald, October 18).

I recently read that if grass-fed cattle and animals were fed a supplement of seaweed, their methane gases would be greatly reduced – I think as much by as 80 per cent. This, I believe, is a valuable contribution to the Climate Carbon Reduction debate.

However, no-one seems to have related the vexatious disaster of millions of trees in the Amazon and elsewhere being burnt in order to clear the land for soya and palm oil production. I wonder how vegetarians and vegans feel about that? Is it a question of double standards?

Lesley Mackiggan, Glasgow G12.

Refuse these bags

I FOUND the letter from Catherine Gee of Keep Scotland Beautiful (October 17) very interesting. I have been campaigning against plastic bags since 1995, without much success, so I was delighted when the Scottish Parliament brought in the plastic bag tax. When they started charging in the Republic of Ireland, the number of bags taken in the supermarkets dropped, but the number of black bin bags bought increased. So people have just altered their habits, not stopped using plastic bags.

However, one source of plastic which has not changed is the fundraising organisation which employs people to deliver plastic bags through residents' letterboxes. They are asking people to fill them with clothes, bric-a-brac, shoes, accessories and the like. But in my experience they do not pick them up. I phoned the company countless times to tell them to stop adding to the plastic problem by giving me plastic bags I don't want, to no avail.

They don't charge 5p for the plastic bag as it is considered as a sack because it has no handles. This is simply a loophole, which should be closed immediately. They say it is better to keep unwanted clothes out of landfill by collecting in plastic bags. It is

not acceptable to put more plastic bags into the environment. Two wrongs don't make a right, It simply compounds the problem. If you receive one of these bags in your letterbox, please phone the company (whose number is on the wrapper) and tell them to stop delivering to your address. Only by a combined campaign against them will we be able to stop them. I don't object to them putting a cotton or canvas bag in my letterbox.

Margaret Forbes, Kilmacolm.

Cup of cheer

WE Scots are wrongly reputed to be a wee bit canny regarding money. However, I would certainly baulk at paying 25p extra on my already, grossly overpriced, takeaway coffee ("Single-use cups levy proposed in new bill", The Herald, October 18). The easy answer is the collapsible cup. Collapsible cookware has been available for campers, caravaners and motorhomers for some time and the Stojo (other makes are available, as the BBC would say) collapsible coffee cup is a safe bet. Available from various suppliers from £7.99 to the Harrods version at £15 (surprise, surprise).

Buying one would soon pay for itself for the regular coffee drinker if the considered charge of 25p is rolled out any time soon. I would personally like to think I would get a 25p discount if I produced one at my local coffee shop, claiming to be doing my bit for the planet.

Ian Smith, Symington.