Shopping can be an exciting experience. It can be an empowering one, too.
In the United States, the historic Inflation Reduction Act has incentivized eco-friendly behaviors for everyday life. As states such as California have been applauded for its monumental move to enact a policy — SB 270 — that bans single-use plastic bags in grocery, liquor, and convenience stores, other parts of the world have used their own means of creating change: economics.
As reported by the Guardian, plastic bags found along U.K. beaches have fallen by up to 80% over the last decade, largely due to mandatory fees passed for shoppers who select single-use bags at store checkouts.
The U.K.-based charitable organization Marine Conservation Society, which conducts an annual litter survey, found an impressive reduction in the amount of plastic that was left along British shores — one plastic bag for every 100 meters of coastline.
Having monitored beach litter numbers for the past 30 years, the Marine Conservation Society shared that the fee placed on shoppers, averaging between £5 and £25 ($6.61 to $33.03), has been a huge contributing factor to the plastic bag reduction.
"It is brilliant to see policies on single-use plastics such as carrier bags working," Marine Conservation Society Beachwatch program manager Lizzie Price told the Guardian.
While introduced to U.K. retailers in 2011, laws charging for single-use plastic bags have steadily grown, namely with the increase in fees. Wales has taken it further by announcing that it will completely ban plastic bags by 2026.
As all four U.K. countries impose regulations to curb challenges presented by plastic bags, the plan to establish a joint approach has been pushed back until 2027.
Interestingly enough, while plastic bag numbers plummeted in the U.K. starting in 2015, drink-related litter had increased by 14% in Scotland and 7% in England. According to the Marine Conservation Society's beach litter report last year, 97% of beaches had drinks-related litter.
The Great British Beach Clean, which organizes multiple "litter-picks," as they call it, has become a popular occurrence. The events see more volunteers each year coming together to remove common plastic pieces — sandwich wrappers, caps, lids, plastic string, and plastic bottles — to return British beaches to their natural beauty.
While the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act encourages cost-effective clean energy adoption, fee placement on plastic bags can protect the U.K.'s marine biodiversity.
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