5 Ways to Use Less Supermarket Plastic Bags

From October this year, supermarkets and large stores in England will be charging a minimum of 5p on every plastic bag used by a customer. The measure is being introduced after it was revealed by Wrap that plastic bag use across the UK has risen for the fifth successive year.

The new figures show that 8.5 billion bags were used this year around the UK, with England the guiltiest party in their use of 7.6 billion bags – up by 200 million from 2013. While Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have all introduced fees for bags in recent years, England has yet to do so.

However, in May the EU announced a new Directive which calls for all member states to either ensure their citizens use less than 90 bags on average per year by 2019 – or desist from providing them free of charge. England will comply later this year by forcing all stores with more than 250 employees to place a price of at least 5p on their bags.

How Can You Help?

As such, it will be in the interests of English residents to reduce their use of plastic bags sooner rather than later, not only for the sake of the environment but also for their own wallet. Here are some tips on how you can go about curbing your own use of the environmentally-unfriendly receptacles:

1)Re-use old bags

Of course, we all take home our plastic bags and store them in a cupboard or drawer with the best intentions of re-using them at a later date. Then, halfway en route to the supermarket, we remember that we’ve forgotten them, and so simply take another one. Such a habit may seem harmless enough – but if everyone does it, we end up with a whole load of single use bags contributing to unnecessary waste in our environment.

2)Use a bag for life

Since the fee was imposed on plastic carriers in Scotland last year, bags for life being used have risen by 300%. Contrastingly, they only account for one in every 20 used in England. Keep up with the McJoneses by acquiring your own bag for your life and bypassing the need for plastic ones.

3)Choose bagless home delivery

Many supermarkets offer home delivery options for those who don’t have the time or the ability to make it to the store themselves. More recently, they have introduced bagless options for the environmentally-conscious customer, allowing you to have your groceries delivered to your door without the excess waste.

4)Don’t use bags for big items

Larger items, such as liquid containers over one litre, boxes of cereal or toilet rolls are large enough that there is little sense in placing them in a bag. Forego the extra waste by simply carrying them yourself.

5)Make use of self-serve dispensers

The bags you get at the checkout aren’t the only plastic in store – many products come with an unnecessary amount of packaging. Fortunately, lots of shops offer the option of dispensing loose items such as grains, corn, nuts and spices into your own receptacles. Bring back old bags to decant them into and minimise waste.

If we all follow these simple guidelines, it will dramatically reduce the number of plastic bags being used by the UK as a whole. And remember – if you do have a backlog of plastic bags cluttering up your cupboards, take them back to the shop or to your nearest recycling point to take the heat off Mother Nature. You know it makes sense!