MP leads by example in sustainable shopping

12.03.22pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 6th Sep 2006

Annette Brooke is switching to sustainable bag use after shocking statistics published by the Department for the Environment revealed the extent plastic shopping bags contribute to our litter and rubbish.

With over 10 billion bags being used a year, nearly 170 per person, the combined weight of the bags comes to a staggering 80,000 metric tonnes, the equivalent of 432 Statues of Liberty.

While other countries such as Ireland have introduced measures to reduce the use of plastic bags in supermarkets Annette believes the government has so far failed to take the problem seriously enough. She has pledged to use sustainable bags from now on to do her bit for the environment.

"I am particularly concerned locally about the unsightliness of plastic bag litter and its impact on the marine life around Dorset beaches." said Annette.

Some Killer Facts:

46,000 pieces of plastic float in each square mile of sea (Source Friends of the Earth)

In Scotland, Mike Pringle, the Liberal Democrat Minister for environmental and rural development has been calling for a tax on plastic bags and the results of a review

In Ireland a plastic bag tax reduced use of the bags by 90% after introducing a 15% tax in 2002.