Impressive reduction in plastic bags

Once in a while the sheer scale of what's going on in the UK in relation to its use of resources and production of wastes hits home. It did with the numbers given in this article. The Independent reports that:

Shops gave out 3.5 billion fewer plastic bags last year under a voluntary scheme which has, for now, headed off the threat of a government ban on free carrier bags. Figures from Wrap, the Government's anti-waste body, show that the number of plastic bags dispensed fell from 13.4 billion in 2007 to 9.9 billion last year, a drop of 26 per cent.