WIREDGOV

A campaign to get people across Wales to re-use their bags when out doing their Christmas shopping has been launched by the Environment Minister Jane Davidson.

The seasonal push is part of the ‘Get Carried Away’ campaign and will use radio and outdoor advertising. This will include bus and shopping centre adverts.

Each year an estimated 320 million bags are handed out in Wales and it takes between 500 and 1,000 years for them to degrade.

Environment Minister Jane Davidson said:

“Our research shows that people support our efforts to radically reduce the number of single-use carrier bags used in Wales. However, our studies also show people often forget to take reusable bags with them when they go out shopping.

“We are calling on people to remember to take their bags with them when they hit the shops in the run up to Christmas. The idea is to change people’s behaviour ahead of our plans to introduce a charge on all single use carrier bags by early 2011. Single use carrier bags are not usually bio-degradable and are a waste of resources. Customers have come to expect free plastic bags at checkouts, but the tide appears to be turning as we all look for more environmentally-friendly options.”

Carrier bags facts:

• An estimated 324 million bags a year are handed out in Wales.
• Plastic bags alone account for 2.7 per cent of litter by weight (Keep Wales Tidy survey figures).
• The estimated cost of removing this specific litter is £1m annually. All litter removal costs Wales annually £37 million.
• Plastic bags account for 2.1 per cent of all litter found on beaches.

For more information, please log onto: www.walescarbonfootprint.gov.uk