The Bank of England is intending to switch from paper to plastic banknotes. Do you agree with this huge change? This switch to plastic will end 300 years of traditional paper currency.

Paper notes feel ‘right’. They are a mark of quality in a transient throw away world. Plastic has many good features but does not convey the value of a beautifully printed and designed paper banknote.

Claims are also being made about plastic being more environmentally friendly than paper bank notes. However, realistically, polymer notes are more expensive and less environmentally friendly to produce in the first instance. Every material has certain negatives in its life cycle, but traditional paper bank notes are made from renewable materials like cotton and linen rags which will be an available resource for hundreds of years.

One of the reasons for the switch to plastic is its claimed durability in water. But how much money have you lost in the washing machine? And don’t try to iron them, they’ll melt!

Brand new plastic bank notes have also been criticised in other countries for their sticky nature. Before counting a stack of new notes, Britons may have to ‘separate them by fanning, tapping, shuffling or snapping’ Is it worth the hassle?

Of course, if members of the public deeply care about the tattiness and hygiene of their paper fivers they could ask for their dirty or out-of-date notes to be swapped for fresh ones. So why switch?

How much will be will be invested in to ATM machines’ adaptation of the new plastic bank note? What will be the recycling cost of plastic notes?

We say, let’s stay with paper and leave fashion trends for transient products that don’t have a long history or for those who don’t see tradition as an important part of their heritage

Stop Her Majesties head from endorsing the depletion of fossil fuels!

Please support our pledge to keep paper bank notes!