"Common sense tells us that anything we can do to reduce use of antibiotics will reduce the growth of resistant bugs.
▶ Buy low-flow shower heads to reduce use of hot water.
Other farmers, backed by the biotechnology industry, argue the products could help lower costs and reduce use of pesticides.
The use of insect-resistant Bt plants can potentially reduce use of chemical insecticide sprays, which are extremely toxic and expensive.
If celluosic ethanol could be produced in an economical fashion, it would vastly increase the American potential to make motor vehicle fuel and reduce use of fossil fuels.
So did some medical societies, which saw the transition as an opportunity to reduce use of albuterol, which merely quells an asthma attack, in favor of drugs like inhaled steroids that can prevent attacks in the first place.
A year ago, Andy Cummins, campaigns director of Surfers Against Sewage, predicted that England's charge would reduce use of plastic bags, but not as effectively as in Scotland, Wales (down 78%) and Northern Ireland (down 81%).
While the law has helped reduce use of some of the most hazardous chemicals – polychlorinated biphenyls and lead, for example – it also has made it extremely difficult to take many other potentially dangerous chemicals off the market.
A report into fracking by MPs, published in May, said that shale gas in the UK could improve the country's energy "self reliance" and reduce use of highly polluting coal-fired power.
At the time of the launch, the government forecast that the charge would reduce use of single-use carrier bags by up to 80% in supermarkets and 50% on the high street.
