On Saturday 10 May I helped man a stall, organised by David Ruffley and myself, outside the Cornhill Walk Shopping Centre giving out ‘Green Bags’ to try and drive down plastic bag usage in the town.

10 billion plastic bags are used in the UK each year, each one takes 1,000 years to break down and 1 billion seabirds and mammals die due to plastic bag consumption across the world every year.

The response from the public was incredibly positive and they seemed amazed that the bags were free. Walking around the town later in the day it was pleasing to see lots of people shopping using their new bags.

A number of retailers are making efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags – Marks & Spencer, for example, have recently started charging for each bag used. However, much more can be done; some towns have banned plastic bags altogether and use their own branded ‘bag for life’. I don’t see why, over the coming years, Bury St Edmunds can’t join these towns in banishing plastic bags for good. In the short term, I hope to arrange more of these stalls and involve more retailers each time we do it.