A mum's environmentally friendly 'life hack' of using plastic boxes instead of plastic bags to load her car up during shopping trips has gone viral - only for her to be branded 'thick as mince meat' by angry eco-warriors.
Bonnie Beck made the simple swap of carrying her shopping in multi-use plastic containers after she had been mortified by 'hundreds of pounds worth' of carrier bags accrued under her kitchen sink.
The mum-of-one had used the two boxes for months when she was stopped by a curious shopper on Tuesday 16 July, who told her it was a 'fantastic idea' and would now start doing it herself.
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The praise prompted the 33-year-old beautician to share a photo of two grey plastic boxes neatly packed with her weekly food shop in the boot of her car on Facebook to encourage people to 'save the planet'.
The post has been shared, liked and commented more than 65,000 times, and one woman even claimed she would swap in her mini so she could fit containers in her car boot.
But while many praised the 'genius hack', some environmentally conscious commenters slammed the idea as 'absolute f***ing nonsense' and blasted Bonnie for not swapping to organic cotton or paper bags instead.
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Bonnie, from Nottingham, said: "I am not trying to be an eco warrior. I am just a normal person who had a little bit of an idea. I'm just a normal woman, I'm not trying to be a clever clogs.
"The ecological side of it aside, it's just a nifty little shopping hack. It's not about not buying carrier bags anymore. It's useful and [I] find it more convenient. It literally started at my car, putting my shopping from my trolley into the boxes in the boot of my car."
She continued: "A woman walked past, stopped and said 'what a fantastic idea that is' and she was going to start doing it too. I thought nothing of it - I just thought it was a normal thing, but her saying that made me think maybe other people would like to know about it too.
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"It's a very small minority of people being negative about it. Someone said I should be made a dame - I will take that. It goes without saying I'm really pleased some people do think it's positive. Even if it doesn't make a change to people's lives from an ecological perspective, it might help them life-wise.
"As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter what angle you look at it - from a financial, ecological or convenient perspective it's definitely a help in one way or another to people. It might provoke people to tidy their car too - because admittedly I couldn't have done this in my old car because the boot was so full of junk.
"I'm not trying to make out that I'm perfect, because I'm not. I do buy plastic, but I do try and do the right thing with that plastic when I've got it.
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"It was never supposed to be about pushing it in people's faces. I just thought I had a nifty idea that people would like. I never expected it to go as viral as it has."
Bonnie, who is a beautician and owner of Bonnie's Beauty Temple, said: "I literally pulled out all of the carrier bags in the cupboard under the sink and was disgusted at how many I had under there. I genuinely felt ashamed of myself. It must have been hundreds of pounds worth of carrier bags. I'm not joking. It was ludicrous.
"I had so many they literally filled my kitchen floor. I went and took all the plastic bags to a food bank so they could use them because I know they struggle to get bags to put people's food in at food banks. At least they were going to a good use."
However, not everyone reacted to Bonnie's post in a positive way. Many environmentally conscious social media users picked holes in Bonnie's idea, such as pointing out that the plastic boxes were not good for the environment either.
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Bonnie also claims she was slammed for having a 'gas guzzling car', not walking to the supermarket instead and not buying products with no single-use plastic.
The mum claims she regularly walks and runs where she doesn't need to drive, is an avid recycler and does what she can to make changes to help the environment.
Bonnie was forced to write a second status, which explained that some people had made her 'sick', adding that she 'really hates the internet'.
She told people: "I wasn't trying to make out like I'm doing everything in my power to save the planet. But I am just making small changes where I can to help the situation.
"Can I just add, that manners and respect cost NOTHING. I don't deserve to be spoke[n] to how I have or be called names. I'm a very nice person and just do my best in life where I can. I just had an idea and shared it with my friends."
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and MediaTopics: Viral, uk news, Community