The charge has finally caught up with us. We take a small but nevertheless important step to becoming a greener society.
The Republic of Ireland introduced this tax 10 years ago and Wales has been working with it for the last 2 years. The idea is to reduce plastic bags in circulation by encouraging shoppers to bring their own e.g. the re-use of carrier bags. The result of this I believe would be a more thoughtful approach to the use of this non-bio degradable material.
The cost of the carrier bags will be increased to 10p next year and the Minister of the Environment Alex Attwood has also stated, “The revenue raised from the levy will contribute towards a number of Departmental environmental programmes and activities.” http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/index/media-centre/news-departments/news-doe/news-releases-doe-january-2013/news-doe-140113-assembly-approves-carrier.htm.
I’m sure it’ll take a little bit of getting used to as I found out last weekend when I was caught in one of the supermarkets without my trusty re-usables. After paying the 5p for a carrier bag and insisting that my foodstuff were all going to fit inside I left the store and just made it back to my flat before my new investment exploded scattering the makings of my dinner around the kitchen floor.
Aesthetically this new charge may also see a reduction of renegade carrier bags roaming our streets or fluttering bags that decorate our trees and bushes around the country. The future looks green!!
Image ref http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluedragonfly/3238199016/
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