The Bring Your Own Bag scheme aims to reduce plastic bag consumption in east london borough of Waltham Forest. The scheme hopes to raise awareness of the environmental damage that plastic bags cause.

How you can help

A group of local residents is setting up a plastic bag free zone in the borough. We are talking to local businesses about setting up a pilot scheme in Leytonstone.

The Bring Your Own Bag scheme aims to reduce plastic bag consumption in east london borough of Waltham Forest. The scheme hopes to raise awareness of the environmental damage that plastic bags cause.

Local shops and traders are being asked to replace traditional plastic carrier bags with reusable or biodegradable alternatives.

We use an average of around 300 plastic bags per person in the UK. We use them for an average of 12-20 minutes before disposing of them.

But it can take over 100 years for a plastic bag to degrade.

It is now thought that an average cloth bag in its lifetime will save the owner from using at least 1000 plastic bags.