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Marks and Spencers starts 5p plastic bag charge

After months of talking about it, and an official government stance in this year's budget that plastic shopping bags should be charged for, Marks & Spencer's has officially started charging 5p for every plastic shopping bag customers use. 

It may be just one store for now, but it means a few million people a day will be deterred from getting a bag for a single sandwich or a soda, which happens all of the time. Prior to the charge coming into effect on May 6, every time I bought my lunch at an M&S it seemed like everyone is front of me was getting a plastic bag for the tiniest of purchases.  I support a full ban on plastic shopping bags altogether, until they make them non petroleum based and completely bio-degradable. They aren't necessary and they leave a terrible legacy. 13 billion a year used in the UK alone, just sitting in landfill for the next thousand years. And if they aren't around people will be forced to use their owns bags, boxes, baskets and carts and that will be that. 

I doubt anyone will ever say 'Remember how great things were when we used to get those free little plastic bags?' 

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