These aren't just carrier bags, these are M&S 5p carrier bags
British department store, Marks & Spencer, announced today that it will begin charging its food shoppers 5p for carrier bags.
Though the news might not be welcomed by M&S shoppers, it isn't quite as bad as it seems. The money raised by the sale of each carrier bag will be donated to an environmental charity.
Sir Stuart Rose, chief executive at M&S said the company intends to "make it easy for our customers to do their bit to help the environment."
Carrier bags are an on going concern for environmentalists, and approximately 13 billion are given to UK shoppers on an annual basis. Other supermarket stores, such as Tesco, currently offer reward schemes for shoppers who re-use bags or opt to bring their own.
Speaking to the BBC, Sir Stuart Rose added:
"On top of this, our customers will be raising valuable funds to go to our partner charity, Groundwork, to invest in much-needed green spaces in our neighbourhoods."
"We've got a very ambitious plan, our Plan A as we call it. One of the five pillars of that plan is to send no waste to landfill by 2012."
"That's an extraordinarily hard thing to achieve and we have to move downward in terms of our usage."
As an added incentive, M&S will be offering free "long-lasting bags" for a one month period, beginning early April. The 5p charge per bag for food shoppers will then be implemented on May 6th.