MP praises Dovehouse Parade shops plan to 'ban the bag'

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 12th Feb 2008

Traders in Dovehouse Parade are leading the way in Solihull with plans to banish the disposable plastic shopping bag from their shops, encouraging more customers to use hessian or cotton re-useable bags.

Lorely Burt MP visited shops on the parade this week and praised traders who are selling re-useable bags and reducing the use of plastic bags to wrap their goods.

Mrs Burt also handed out leaflets promoting the scheme and explaining the benefits of switching to re-useable shopping bags.

"It's estimated that over 10 billion plastic bags are used each year in the UK, that's 167 bags per person and accounts for 1% of all landfill waste.

"At least 200million of these bags end up as litter and pollute our parks, streets and open spaces. Plastic bags can also prove very dangerous to wildlife.

"Many towns and cities are now becoming plastic bag free zones, where both residents and traders are making a real difference and switching to re-useable bags.

"The Spa supermarket are selling their own hessian bags and New Cornucopia have sold over 300 of their re-useable bags since introducing them last September.

"Shoppers have responded very positively and it's great to see traders taking the initiative and helping to save the environment. I hope that other centres across the borough will follow the lead and do their bit towards banishing the bag."