Plastic carrier bags

Plastic carrier bags have been receiving lots of attention in the press recently and to some extent this has been criticised by the environmental groups as not being a primary area of concern. My objection to this criticism is that it is easy to stop using plastic carrier bags, it has virtually no impact on our lives and yet it could have a significant impact on the environment. A telling statistic which was quoted in the press was that if consumers in the UK reduced their plastic carrier bag usage by 25% that this would have the same positive impact on the environment as removing 18,000 cars form the road.