Single use plastic carrier bags are the scourge of the environment. Not only do they create carbon emissions in their manufacture, but they can cause harm to wildlife and sea creatures and take a long time to decompose in increasingly-scarce landfill sites.

British supermarkets have realized that dealing with the problem is good for their costs and public image as well as the environment.

In 2008, seven supermarkets made a voluntary agreement to reduce the number of plastic bags given out by half, compared to the figures for the number of bags given out in 2006.

A year later and the supermarkets have missed the 50% by a small margin. In May 2006, shoppers took 718 million plastic bags. But by May 2009, this figure had been cut to 372 million. The target was missed by 2%, but it stil means that 346 million fewer plastic bags were used. That’s 346 million fewer bags going to landfill.

Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, commented: “This is a great achievement by the seven supermarkets and their customers and it shows that by working together, we really can change our bag habits.
This means that several hundred million fewer carrier bags are going to landfill every month and we’re using less raw materials to make them, which is great news.”

Have we seen a permanent change in British consumer behaviour? The coming months will tell.

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