The eco guide to plastic bags | Lucy Siegle

Here's how to change your shopping habits when one-use disposable bags are taxed in England from 5 October

The disposable shopping bag's moment has come - 5 October marks the introduction of a long-awaited bag tax in England, which should put a massive dent in the 8bn plastic bags a year dispensed by supermarkets. In Wales and Scotland, people have been living (in most cases very happily) without free plastic bags for some time.

To carry on polluting, it'll cost you 5p per new bag, while online grocery delivery services will continue to infuriate by using loads of plastic bags and charging a flat fee.