Smash hit

Some say that, to eliminate our reliance on plastic altogether, we would need to follow in the footsteps of Ireland. For the past five years, it has imposed a nationwide tax of 15 cents on all supermarket shopping bags, reducing their use by 90 per cent and raising money for environmental projects.

Figures in the UK are limited and contradictory. Some say our plastic addiction has got worse over the past six months. In September, research by trade magazine The Grocer found that Sainsbury’s used on average 11 bags for 33 items, while Asda got through a whopping 15 to pack 32 items. Worryingly, it concluded that these two supermarkets were using more bags than they had been three months earlier. Two months later, Sainsbury’s had a different story to tell. It announced that the use of free disposable bags had fallen by 10 per cent in its stores over six months, and sales of re-usable bags had soared by nearly 50 per cent.

There’s no doubt Bags for Life (the heavy-duty plastic shoppers sold in supermarkets) are popular. I see plenty in evidence in London, when I stroll around the West End. Some 30 days before Christmas, there are also a fair few fabric bags being flaunted. Worryingly, I see them being used as well as, rather than instead of, plastic bags. Eco bag in one hand, plastic bag in the other, sometimes one inside the other, is a popular look.

When I see a man popping a packet of batteries into a plastic bag on Oxford Street, it is tempting to ask him why he can’t use his rucksack. But I hold back, unsure of the etiquette of public intervention. Green bullying in public is probably not the answer.

WAWWD believes that, instead, we should be getting high-street retailers involved. Virgin Megastore and Debenhams have already committed to asking customers if they really need a plastic bag. To make life easier for shoppers, posters with tips on how to decline one politely are being distributed. They range from a pre-emptive strike – “You’re going to ask me if I want a plastic bag, aren’t you? Well, it’s OK, because I don’t” – to interrupting mid-bagging: “I won’t be needing that plastic bag, thank you.”

As we enter the year’s busiest shopping period, we still have some way to go before plastic bags become the fashion faux pas that Harvey would like them to be. The glut of stylish, re-usable bags on the market is helping us to inch forwards, but what matters most is not whether you choose a wicker basket, slogan bag or a recycled banana-leaf carrier, but that you remember to use it.

See Body & Soul for Anna Shepard’s weekly Eco-worrier

100 “PLASTIC AIN’T MY BAG” BAGS TO BE WON

We Are What We Do, the people who brought you the Anya Hindmarch “I’m Not A Plastic Bag” phenomenon, are giving 100 readers the chance to own one of their cool new bags. Just answer the following question:

The wife of which world famous Irish rock star runs her own fair-trade and socially conscious clothing range?

To enter, go to offersinthetimes.com/competition and input the code x6537. The competition closes at midnight on December 14, 2007.

We Are What We Do’s latest project is a competition for under-18s, called Small Actions Big Change. The closing date for entries is January 2, 2008. For more information on this and other aspects of the charity, visit timesonline.co.uk/wearewhatwedo

Terms and conditions One entry per person. No purchase necessary. Competition open to UK residents aged 18 and over except employees of Times Newspapers Limited, We Are What We Do and their associated, affiliated or subsidiary companies and their families, agents, or anyone connected with this competition. Competition closes at midnight on December 14, 2007. 100 winners will each win a We Are What We Do eco bag. There is no cash or other alternative. Winners will be notified by December 21, 2007. Full terms and conditions available online.

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