Fighting the curse of the plastic bag

While there appeared to be an appetite for government action on this issue some time ago, this now appears to have subsided in favour of self-regulation by business.

With the likes of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda et al not seeming to take a great deal of interest a couple of years ago, consumer pressure seems to be finally forcing the issue with some progress being made on reuse and recycling.

Recycling facilities are offered at some supermarkets while some chains are now experimenting with incentives such as additional loyalty points to encourage shoppers to reuse their bags.

It seems that the issue of reusable bags has now become a fashion accessory with the launch of a new designer bag labelled "I'm not a plastic bag".

Thanks to endorsement from the likes of Keira Knightly and Lily Allen, these new clutch bags are the hottest of hot cakes.

Initially, 1,000 of these cloth bags were sold from the website www.wearewhatwedo.org to promote the organisation's campaign against plastic bag usage.

These were sold out within five days of release, prompting the organisation to place further orders.

This week a further 4,000 will go on sale, but We Are What We Do has reported that they have already had 11,000 requests.

The frenzy of excitement for these bags is hardly what you would expect of a fairly mundane product, but there is already a lot of eBay activity with some bags selling for as much as 175, a huge profit on the original 5 price.

Five London stores will carry a further 8,000 bags this week, although it is very likely that by the time you read this article they will have already sold out.

It seems that this very simple slogan has fuelled something remarkable.

For many years it has been possible to buy "bags for life" or various shopping bags made from linen, jute or hemp, but they always seem rather unsexy and only suitable for people who routinely wear sandals and eat muesli.

If the potential of the new bag is fulfilled, it could have the same effect as several years worth of campaigning by council recycling officers up and down the country.

Fulfilling the potential is the key, though; when the bag is readily available will it have the same cachet?

Later in the spring the bag will start to be stocked by Sainsbury's, putting it into the mainstream, and this will demonstrate whether it is an idea that resonates with the masses, or yet another fashion flash in the pan.

Whatever the outcome, the publicity generated is likely to achieve one positive result; focusing attention on the unnecessary usage of plastic bags!