Free reusable bags offer to cut down waste

May 19 2008 by Andrew Hirst, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

SUPERMARKET giant Morrisons is to urge its customers to help save up to 50 million bags a month – by handing out a free reusable carrier to every shopper.

From today the UK’s fourth biggest supermarket chain will give away 10 million of the reusable bags made from 100% recycled material and larger than standard bags.

The chain has stores at Waterloo and Meltham.

The major new initiative, timed to coincide with the build-up to the busy Bank Holiday weekend, will also see shoppers offered the chance to buy Morrisons new multi-trip charity bag for just 10p, with a contribution going to Help The Aged and Childline, the company’s Charity of the Year partnership.

The aim is to encourage customers to use the reusable carriers on every shop, giving a potential saving of around 12m standard bags each week

A company spokesman said: “By encouraging customers to reuse their shopping bags we’ve already cut the number of bags by 110m – but we want to do more.

“We believe this new initiative could cut bag use much further – possibly by as much as 50m bags a month – and will help continue to reduce the environmental impact of carrier bags. By giving away these bags today, we can make a real difference for tomorrow.

“We believe that the best way to encourage our customers to use fewer bags is by offering larger re-usable bags as an alternative. Other measures we’ve brought in include providing cardboard boxes at our checkouts as an alternative.”