The Rise of The Carrier Bag

• Mar. 2 by Alina Bokhari (2)

Shopping is a routine activity in most people’s lives. And what’s the one thing we all have in common when we shop? Carrier bags! We wouldn’t be able to get our things home without them. But that isn’t important! What we do with the carrier bags once we’ve removed our shopping is the point!

Many people would re – use carrier bags, maybe to put their shopping in again or just as a bin bag. But what about those that get thrown away for compost? As the world becomes a greener place, many shops have tried to introduce the go-green/recycling scheme through carrier bags. One way in which they’ve done this is by introducing the carrier bag that isn’t plastic. However, unlike free and convenient plastic carrier bags this new genius comes along with a price tag .. in most cases a pretty heavy one.

The plastic bag can, in some ways, be seen as a greener way of assisting with the ‘Go Green’ scheme, because they actually require a lot less energy to manufacture, ship and recycle, causing less greenhouse gases. However, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (UK Government), the collection and disposing of plastic bags works out extremely expensive and difficult, simply due to the nature of the product.

The all new trend of non – plastic carrier bag can be seen as a fashion statement. People are paying for these bags so they want to get their money’s worth which is fair enough. But are enough people encouraged to purchase these dainty environment savers? The first non – plastic bag was created by Anya Hindmarch, a member of the bag/fashion industry, who invented the ‘I’m not a plastic bag’ carrier. This was seen, by some, as a fashion statement or was it the beginning of something new for all those go – greeners? The bag, priced at a £5 in shops across the UK, was sold out within an hour of being placed on the shelves, and then many high street stores began to follow in its footsteps.

Shops such as Boots, Tesco and many more have created their own versions of the bag in an attempt to introduce green ethics to their brands. Many supermarkets have now created the ‘bag for life’, a re-usable carrier bag for those shoppers concerned with being eco – friendly, which is priced at roughly 10 pence. So, in comparison to the ‘I’m not a plastic bag’ carrier, that is almost next to nothing. One could argue that even if people are just paying for the bags as a fashion statement at least the world is getting one step closer to a better environment! This new alternate to plastic bags is, possibly, a way of raising awareness in today’s world as to the harsh environment by which we are surrounded. Anything we can do even if it is as small as changing the bag that carries your shopping, we are improving, slowly but surely. Go green!