I have a plan for those who forget their bags for life | Zella Compton

Every once in a blue moon I remember to stuff a wodge in my car so that they’re handy.

But most of the time I stuff unpacked ones into a bigger bag hanging on the inside of my kitchen door, or an even bigger one on the inside of my front door, or in the cupboard of shame which is overflowing with bags for life.

It’s life though isn’t it, that you come in, unpack, clean out the fridge, put the stuff in the fridge, sigh heavily, unload it all and actually wipe down the inside of the fridge properly.

Then you repack it all again, find space in the cupboards to perform a Tetrus-like balancing act of flour, cereal bars and three tubs of peanut butter as they were on sale.

The last thing you then want to do – probably in the rain – is go back out to the car and pop the bags handily into the boot.

What’s possibly worse though, is when you pop to the shop on the way home for some milk and bread, and then end up buying yoghurts and fruit and this and that and suddenly you need to buy a bag for life, even though you have 15 in the car outside.

Those incidents leave me spitting with fury.

Those poor cashiers must get drenched. And it’s never about the price, it’s about my own forgetfulness.

When I do go with my 26 million bags, I often have extras hanging around and it’s my belief that supermarkets could stick a bucket on each checkout that I could leave any extra bags in.

And the person behind me could take one – for free – and leave an extra one next time they remember their bags for life.

And we could all share what we have in circulation in those forgetful moments and as such decrease the amount in circulation dramatically.

If lives can be saved then I’ll embrace Big Brother

New mobile phone laws in Australia mean drivers who are snapped using theirs face fines of up to $457 (£240).

This is a step up from speed cameras and I think it’s great. I loathe seeing drivers on their phones and often wish I could snap an image of their number plate, but then I’d have to get my phone out to do so.

I was once driven by a man without a seat belt on a motorway, taking a call on his phone, while writing a note on a piece of paper.

He was towing my car, in France, and it was terrifying.

Anything which makes people think before endangering other people is great. Let’s embrace the surveillance state – in this instance anyway.

Anyone wearing filched prom dress is asking for trouble

I get that prom dresses are expensive items, but who would be stupid enough to steal one?

As any parent who has been down this pathway knows, the local dress shops only stock one of a kind to save embarrassing incidents of two people in the same ensemble.

Thus stealing’s a bit too much of ‘you shall go to the ball’, as when you get there, your card’s already marked as thief. Susan’s of Gosport had a pink and white gown filched by a mother and daughter thieving combo.

But how will they get away with either wearing it, or selling it, when Facebook’s covered in pictures of it?

If you’re buying a pre-loved frock, make sure it’s not this one.