Off to M&S? Don't forget your bag for life...
They've been going on about it long enough, and now it seems that Marks and Spencers are finally going to bite the bullet and start charging food customers for plastic bags.
The 5p bag charge will be brought in to all stores from the beginning of May, but Chief Exec Stuart Rose is softening the blow by giving away free bags for life throughout April. A trial taking place in Northern Ireland and the South West of England has already proven successful with bag consumption down 70% in participating stores, so a similar story playing out in all 520 Marks and Spencers UK stores could lead to a massive overall reduction.
As someone who still feels very much in the minority declinging plastic bags on those occasions I do remember to bring my own in supermarkets, I'll be very interested to see how the public take to this move. Most of all, I hope they adapt their pesky self-service machines to recognise long-life bags, as this has become a real bugbear in my local branch!
