Are you happy to pay for your shopping bags?

Did you know that from Monday 5 October 2015 it will become compulsory for many shops in England to charge for plastic bags?

People in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland have been paying for plastic bags for a few years now and from next week England is joining in. It will become compulsory for shops with more than 250 workers overall to charge for plastic bags, so most of the high street stores will be included in this.

The reason behind this is to discourage the use of plastic, which consumes fossil fuels during manufacturing and leads to a lot of litter after use. Retailers are ‘expected’ to donate the proceeds from the sale of plastic bags to ‘good causes’ – but good causes are not necessarily the same as registered charities.

So will you willingly pay the new charges on 5 October, knowing that your money is going to some ‘good causes’?

What are your views?  Do you already take your own bags shopping? Are you happy to pay for your shopping bags? Will you change your shopping habits next week and go prepared?