Cost of taking action: £/$/€ NIL
All credit to “Morrisons” for their no-plastic-bag policy
We were delighted to read about UK supermarket giant Morrison’s decision to stop using plastic bags in their stores altogether, in favour of paper bags, jute, and other eco-friendly materials.
This follows their move earlier to not use the standard plastic bags, even with the permitted charge. The later decision includes all plastic bags at checkouts, including so-called “bag for life” products.
We commend them for this move, but we are also of the view that it is consumer demand and consumer concerns that have driven the change. Therefore, our action for you now is to NOT use any plastic bags purchased from supermarkets at all, whether the cheap flimsy single use ones or a multiple use “bag for life”.
The BBC News story is at this link: Morrisons to stop selling plastic carrier bags – BBC News.
Morrisons
Morrisons have proven to be a bit of a leader in this regard; now is the time to encourage other stores to do the same.
Almost 100 million plastic bags a year will be removed in total as a result of this move, saving 3,200 tonnes of plastic each year. Morrisons also says the replacements – reusable paper bags – will cost 30p each and are recyclable, water and tear resistant. It says the bags can hold up to 16kg, which is the same as a plastic bag for life. The paper bags will be sold alongside string, jute, cotton and reusable woven bags.
Another point of note is that Morrisons has also removed all plastic bags from its fruit and vegetable areas in store, offering brown paper bag alternatives instead.
Take heart, and take action
This is a great example of the power of us all as consumers to drive change. Take heart from the fact that things can be improved if we all take action. Please – do the same now in all supermarkets and other shops, let’s consign the plastic bag to history.