Plastic bags are BAD - but enough with the adverts!

Using a new survey (by the Government?) of 2,500 shoppers it is estimated that an average shopper still uses more than 160 new carrier bags every year.

This research is being used to back up the launch of another campaign to persuade us to stop using plastic bags: see the official site here.

I am no fan of plastic shopping bags and stopped using them almost two years ago but still get caught out occasionally.

See my previous posts on the subject, including my own get a bag habit ideas and action on bags from other countries plus some alternative to plastic bags.

What I have seen is a change in many peoples' behaviour. When I look around the supermarket, the "bring your own bag" idea seems to have taken hold. I see lots of people bringing their own bags. I am now always asked if I need bags by the checkout operator. I pass plastic bag recycling points when I am leaving the supermarkets. I now get charged for bags something that was unheard of two years ago - unless you shopped at Aldi, Lidl and Netto retailers who routinely charged for bags.

I say again, I am no fan of plastic bags and as part of Premier Waste have given away over 500 cotton shopping bags since I joined the company in 2007.

But, given the change in shopper's behaviour, given that governments around the world are now banning them, or introducing tax charges on them (see my previous blog posts), is this not the time for the UK to do the same?

Plastic bags do not form a huge part of the waste stream, they are using up resources but then so are a lot of other things, they justify action BUT get it done right and move on.

Isn't it time that we just banned the things or taxed them so much they went away through economic incentives.