A Bag for life is a type of bag offered in some UK supermarkets. These are sold for a nominal sum, usually 10p, and are replaced for free. The main purpose of this is to ensure that the bags are recycled (which usually earns the retailer a small amount of money per bag), and unlike with free carrier bags there is a (small) financial incentive to bring the bags back for recycling, lessening the environmental impact.
In contrast to more spartan carrier bags, bags for life tend to be colourful and show some aspect of the supermarket's advertising. Some supermarkets maintain the same design for years at a time, whereas some, like Waitrose, rotate the designs to tie in with either the season or the most recent advertising campaign.
Who used them first
Waitrose were the first supermarket to use them [1]
These bags are known as green bags in Australia due to their relative environmental friendliness and usual (though far from universally) green colour.
External links
- grownupgreen has a number of features and news items on carrier bag use in UK supermarkets.