Marks & Spencer starts charging for plastic bags

Marks & Spencer, the UK based department store, started charging customers 5 pence (10 cents) for every plastic bag they use (via Treehugger). So far they've seen an 80% reduction in plastic bag use- that's 70 million fewer bags already! Money raised by the surcharge will be used to improve parks and play areas across the UK.

Between 500 billion to a trillion plastic bags are used every year, so we think it's fantastic that our neighbors across the sea have found a way to significantly reduce plastic bag waste.

If you have plastic bags and want to recycle them, find a place near you through plasticbagrecycling.org or even better bring your own to the store! Envirosax's graphic series or Baggu's super bright totes are our picks!

Envirosax:


Baggu: