The current campaign, spearheaded by the Daily Mail, to rid the country of plastic bags makes complete sense. Plastic bags are a menace to not only our generation but many more to come as landfill sites are full of them.

I believe that as responsible retailers, we need to grasp the nettle and work to a deadline to phase out plastic bags. We have already stopped supplying plastic bags for our home delivery service at our Dersingham store and the community there is striving to use reusable bags in the store too. Jute bags are very popular and provide an excellent alternative to plastic bags in a far more environmentally beneficial way. Once customers are used to using them, the need for plastic bags becomes a distant memory. To assist with this transition, we are selling Jute bags at cost to all of our customers and will shortly be giving them away free with every £50 spent in store.

As with all environmental issues, doing nothing is not an option. Our plastic free campaign is giving our team and customers a shared goal and thankfully everyone is focused on achieving it. Whilst we can all do our bit, the biggest winner is the environment and that’s what counts most. To one person it may mean just a plastic bag, but to many people it means, quite literally, the World.

JJ