Could London become Britain's first plastic-bag-free city?
20 March 2010
Boris Johnson has outlined plans to reduce waste in London in time for the 2012 Olympics and has put plastic bag usage at the forefront of his campaign.
The Mayor’s draft waste strategy says: “If all UK shoppers cut out just one in five bags, it would save about 40,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases a year – equivalent to taking over 12,500 cars off the road for a year.”
The Republic of Ireland reduced plastic bag consumption by 90%, having introduced a charge eight years ago.
Modbury was the first town in the UK to go plastic-bag free and along with independent and ethical retailers led the way in reducing plastic bag usage in the UK.
Eco-shopping bag companies have also bucked the trend offering an array of shopping bag alternatives. Bags of Change offers organic cotton, hemp and wild rubber bags with discounts of up to 10% for shopping with your bag at 70 retailers across the UK and Eire.
Approximately 13 million plastic bags are issued to shoppers each year in Britain – let’s work with Boris and stop using plastic bags now.
YOU can help shape the direction of Boris’ plans – simply respond to the policy surveys or submit your personal response here (first consultation deadline 15 March 2010).
