Supermarket baggage

Ireland brought in a tax on plastic bags in March 2002, and all shops and othersales outlets must charge customers 10p per plastic bag. Before the tax was introduced,about 1.2 billion plastic bags were given to customers annually. The levy has been a great success with a billion fewer non-recyclable plastic being and £2.25m raised for the new Environmental Fund. With whales, turles and other wildlife often dieing as a result of swallowing plastic bags, as well as the unsightly ltter they create, it is high time the British government introduced a similar measure, and started to demontrtate a real commitment to environmental issues.