Not Just Plastic Bags, M&S Plastic Bags.
I apologise profusely for having brought that advert to an international audience, but I had to. It’s cathartic to share.
I shudder at the voice-over to such an extent that I need to lie down in a darkened room afterwards and gnaw at my knuckles. Hideous snobbery. What were the creatives thinking?
But to M&S. Or Marks and Spencer, to give them their full title, a clothing and food store from here in the UK who in an announcement to the press state:
“Marks & Spencer is to roll-out a 5p charge for food carrier bags in all of its UK stores from the beginning of May to encourage customers to reduce the number of bags they use and to raise money for environmental projects.”
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“All profits generated from the charge will go to environmental charity Groundwork and be used to create or improve ‘greener living spaces’ such as parks, play areas and gardens in neighbourhoods around the UK. It is expected that around 40 neighborhoods will benefit in the next twelve months.”
Sir Stuart Rose, Chief Executive, Marks & Spencer said:
“This move lies at the heart of our 100-point eco plan, Plan A. We want to make it easy for our customers to do their bit to help the environment and our trials have shown us that they want to take action. Just imagine if M&S customers right across the UK cut the number of food bags they use by 70% – that’s over 280 million bags they’d be saving every year.”
Gordon Brown, PM
In the Guardian today, Gordon Brown announced:
“[He] will use the law to stop supermarkets giving away free plastic bags within the next 12 months. Supermarkets that do not voluntarily start charging customers for plastic bags are expected to be compelled to impose a levy of at least 5p a bag.”
5p a bag it is then. It’s not enough of an incentive to reuse. Go for the jackpot. Make it 50p a bag and you might see behavioural change.
Modbury
That’s where we should be looking. A small Devon town who became the first place in the whole of Europe to go entirely plastic bag free. That was cutting edge stuff.
Plastic bags have been consigned to the bin by traders in a Devon town in a bid to be more green. All 43 shopkeepers in Modbury are taking part in the initiative, following a suggestion by a wildlife camerawoman who lives in the town. Rebecca Hosking was moved to tears as she filmed marine life off Hawaii for the BBC2 programme, Natural World.
“What really brought it home for me was one day filming a turtle,” she said. “It had a plastic bag in its mouth and was slowly dying, there was nothing we could do.”
So, what do you think? Will 5p (10 cents) be enough to alter people’s shopping habits?
Further Reading:
Patagonia, a Big Plastic Bag, by Martín Cagliani
City of Athens Gets Green Bags, by Stefanos Kofopoulos
On my shopping travels today, I was pleasantly surprised by a number of shopkeeps asking me whether I wanted a bag or not (and was quite happy to say no).
To be fair to M&S, they are currently working to reduce their environmental impact and C-footprint in many ways, not just bags.