Decline plastic bags wherever possible.

Every person in the UK uses up to 167 plastic bags every year.

That's 10 billion bags all together. All sitting in huge land fill sites producing tons of methane gas. And methane gas contributes to global warming. All this from a humble shopping bag. And if you consider a plastic bag can take up to 500 years to decay you realise that; 'Houston, we've got a problem.'

So, where to start in helping to reduce our growing bag mountain?

Well, there is an alternative. It's called a shopping bag and apparently in France, it's very chic. Failing that, start by just using fewer bags at the check out, or better still, take old bags with you to the shops when you can.

Maybe we can influence supermarkets to supply biodegradable bags. When they smile sweetly in a helpful manner and offer you a bag just remind them politely they're not, in fact, being very helpful.

One thing is certain, with very little effort we can all use fewer than 167 bags a year.

Take action
If you like the action, why not give it a go? We don't want you to spend hours trying to find out how to get started on each action, so we've got some ideas here.
www.recoup.org/business/default.asp
www.greenmanproductions.co.uk/page1.htm
www.carry-a-bag.com
www.onyabags.co.uk
www.beunpackaged.com
www.gogreenbags.com
www.saynotoplasticbags.co.uk