Bags of Promise?

Supermarket 'Bags for Life' have become a bigger problem than single use carriers they were intended to replace. Far from being used repeatedly, these bags are often discarded after one use. 'Bags for Life' also contain more plastic than their single use counterparts. An extraordinary 1.5 billion 'Bags for Life' are sold each year. Good news then, that the Cooperative Group are going to stop selling them (after they have disposed of their current stock), in their 2600 stores (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/apr/30/co-op-to-ditch-plastic-bags-for-life-over-pollution-concerns). The COOP will be following the Morrison's Group, who now sell paper bags, in place of plastic alternatives. Weirdly, the 'inventor' of the plastic bag, saw them as a means of reducing the cutting of trees to make paper. The COOP decision will remove the sale of 29.5 million 'Bags for Life' per year. That will reduce plastic use by almost 900 tonnes per annum. In their place, the COOP will offer their bagless customers a 10p compostable bag, useable for food waste. Alternatively, customers can buy woven or foldable bags (between 50p and £1).