'Send fewer plastic bags to landfill', Britons urged

Britons are being urged to carry spare cloth or plastic bags before going shopping as a recent survey has revealed that they use an average of 13,000 carrier bags in their lifetime.

This equates to each Briton using 160 plastic carrier bags a year, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' poll of 2,500 shoppers found.

Following the release of the data, the government has launched a campaign, entitled get a bag habit, which is urging people to reuse their old carrier bags or carry eco-shoppers with them.

Environment minister Jane Kennedy said that the billions of plastic bags sent to landfill sites annually is evidence of "our throwaway society".

"If we really can 'get a bag habit' and remember to reuse our bags, it puts us on the right track to doing even more to reduce the amount of waste we're sending to landfill," she continued.

Maybe the UK could take a leaf from the book of Bangladesh, which has banned the use of plastic bags since 2002.