Leicestershire residents can now get hold of their own reusable shopping bag. The bags are being offered by the Leicestershire Waste Partnership in a bid to reduce the number of plastic bags we throw away.

Claim your free bag by calling 0116 305 0001. Alternatively, you can visit our Available reusable bag page.

What's the big deal?

Plastic bag use in the UK has reduced by nearly 50% over the past few years, simply by people switching to reusable bags. This is a fantastic achievement, but on average each UK household still gets through 400 plastic bags a year!* Most of these will end up in landfill or stuck in hedges, trees or rivers.

Heading into town? Take me with you!

Many people now remember to take a reusable bag to the supermarket, but how many of us think about it when we go shopping for clothes, gifts or that new CD? There are plenty of stylish bags available now, that not only look great but are also small enough to fit into a handbag, pocket or even attach to your keyring.

Why should you use a reusable bag?

There are lots of important reasons for using a reusable bag instead of a one-use disposable bag:

Did you know?

Carrier bags can take more than 400 years to break down!

Plastic bags are only used on average for 12-20 minutes before disposal

Approximately 13 billion carrier bags are issued to consumers each year

On average each year every adult is given 300 disposable bags

Plastic bags can kill marine life and wildlife

So why not use a reusable jute or cotton bag or even an old plastic bag next time you go shopping and bag yourself a greener future!

Going Shopping?

In 2008, UK shoppers took home 9.9 billion new carrier bags – that’s 400 per household! Producing that number of bags requires around 180,000 tonnes of oil and produces green-house gases equivalent to up to an extra 100,000 cars on the road.

Yet most of us have lots of bags. We have bags under the sink, bags under the stairs, bags fill our drawers and bulge out of cupboards. However, there’s one place we never seem to have our shopping bags… when we get to the checkout!

Busy lives mean it’s difficult to remember your reusable bags every time you go shopping. But by remembering your bags, you’ll be helping to use fewer resources and reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfill.

Here are a few tips to help make sure you don’t forget your bags:

keep bags somewhere you’re likely to see them, such as near the front door;
ensure you’re always prepared by keeping a bag folded in your handbag or jacket pocket;
keep bags in the boot of your car so you have them ready for next time. Try putting a reminder on your dashboard so you don’t go into the shop without them.

Act On CO² Get a Bag Habit

Page Last Updated: 15 September 2010