Urge UK Supermarkets to start charging for plastic bags!

Dear Sir or Madam,

About one million plastic bags are used every minute. Each one takes 1000 years to fully degrade. This is a growing problem because they are a threat to our environment.

Our names are Hannah Smith and Alice Kiff. We go to South Wilts Grammar School, and are taking a GCSE course in Citizenship. As part of our curriculum we are doing a project on local issues. We aim to study the effects of plastic bags on our environment. We started work on January 5th. We have researched your franchise and are writing to you because we understand that you do not charge for plastic shopping bags. We are not trying to change your opinions but we would like to show you some of the research we have been doing. Our thoughts behind choosing this topic were thinking about litter. We further thought about things that directly affect us and plastic bags are littered around the communities that we live in. Finally we thought about what was current and also achievable. We chose plastic bags because they fitted all the criteria. This is a good idea because it cuts down on litter in the communities which will raise image and increase peoples respect for the place in which they live. We believe that if one or two shops start charging for plastic bags, others will follow and this will start cutting down on the litter. Our aims are to help make at least one major shop, start charging. If this does not work we hope to influence them enough to make them really think about charging for plastic bags. Please read our letter to understand where we are coming from and hopefully we can successfully convey our message to you.

We are interested in sending this letter to you as a company because we believe that you are a shop that could influence others on this serious matter. Out of all the shops we looked at, you and a few others, stood out because of your diverse and broad target market. We have observed that your business has recently made adjustments and compromises to being green; which we think is mindful and very thoughtful of you- but we believe you can take your environmental views even further. It is a fact that plastic bags require the use of non-renewable fossil fuels. These release toxic by-products from the chemical processes used. Not only do they release these chemicals into our atmosphere but they account for hundreds of deaths of animals, especially marine animals. An average supermarket charges one penny for a bag but spends around one billion pounds a year on them. Finally, they also take between five hundred and one thousand years to decay.

Charging for plastic carrier bags poses many advantages - not only towards the environment and community. Charging for plastic bags benefits you. In today%u2019s culture, being %u2018green%u2019 is the step forward. Common households recycle more, consumers purchase organic products, and citizens are trying to cut down on their energy consumption. Being eco-friendly is no longer something for hippies or gypsies. It is pop culture, it is technology, it is the future. It is England today.  England today is looking up to its main providers, leaders and media for support and as the massive influential figure that you are, you have the power to take the next step towards a greener England. Shops such as Marks and Spencer%u2019s, B&Q, IKEA and National Trust Shops have already begun initiating this environmental movement. I think you will agree with us when we say that it is you who should be standing up for Britain%u2019s environment by participating in this environmental campaign. Think of this not as following a trend but paving the way to a greener England.

As part of our project we designed a survey in order to collect data. We created the survey on an online website which allowed us to send it via email and Facebook to all of our friends and family. We have incorporated a copy of the survey plus some pie charts describing our data. In amongst nine other questions, we asked people, %u201CAre you aware that plastic bags are affecting the environment?%u201D The survey was posted online; it was done at school and at home. The results for this question show that 98% of people answered, %u201CYes.%u201D

This plan to charge for plastic bags will slow down the consumption and therefore the demand and production of plastic bags. Slowing down the production of plastic bags will benefit our world immensely. Initiating this plan will help your shop, and in turn your world in making a greener world. Less plastic bags in the world will result in less littering in communities and rivers. The Amazon River is polluted more and more every day with household rubbish. Plastic bags are one of the most prominent of all this rubbish. Not only will it cut down litter, it will also cut down on pollution. It takes

Thank you very much for taking the time to read our letter. We really appreciate you spending a few minutes to learn more about how you could become greener. If you would like to contact us please email us at hannah@metacoach.co.uk or 08ajk@swgs.wilts.sch.uk or send a letter addressed to Hannah Smith and Alice Kiff to South Wilts School, Stratford Road, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 3JJ.

Thank you once again

Alice Kiff and Hannah Smith