It's official: the plastic bag is now seriously uncool. On a global level, marine scientists have known for decades that plastic rubbish finds its way into our oceans. Once in the sea, the same tiny pellet of plastic can kill countless birds and fish in a macabre cycle: the animal eats the plastic and dies, then the animal's body rots away to expose the plastic inside. The plastic is then back in the ocean, ready to kill another unsuspecting bird or fish.
On a local level, anyone living in the Leys will know how quickly litter can build up and ruin an area. Bob Avery, former vice-chair of Blackbird Leys Parish Council, said in a Leys News interview last year: "The estate only looks OK because I've been keeping on top of everything by walking round it for two hours every evening. I'll really feel something has been achieved when you only need to walk round once a fortnight. As it is, when I come back from a short holiday, it's immediately obvious that things have got out of control again."
The problem with plastic is that, unlike some other kinds of rubbish, it isn't biodegradable - which means that it keeps cluttering our streets and parks until someone's hard work gets it removed.
Some countries have already taken steps to deal with the plastic problem at source by reducing the amount of plastic that people use. The Republic of Ireland introduced a tax on plastic shopping bags in 2002. According to the Irish government, this tax resulted in a 90% reduction in the number of plastic bags used. Just fifteen cents was enough to make people remember to take their own bags shopping instead of accepting a new bag at the checkout.
Other countries have introduced different measures, such as Bangladesh's ban on polythene bags. But the UK is lagging behind. According to activist movement We Are What We Do (www.wearewhatwedo.org), the average British resident uses 167 plastic bags every year - and only one in every 200 is recycled. The Government isn't doing anything definite to reduce our plastic bag use, despite Gordon Brown's description of the plastic bag as "one of the most visible symbols of environmental waste".
Luckily, we don't have to look to the House of Commons for a solution - we can start by looking in the cupboard under the sink or under the stairs. Everyone has a secret stash of carrier bags somewhere in a dark corner of the house. It's time to dig them out, put them in a prominent place and remember to take them with you when you go shopping.
Even better, get a sturdy shopping bag that isn't made of plastic at all. Oxford City Council are currently offering cotton "bags for life" to Oxford residents for just £1. You can pick them up at various city centre locations, including Prices Pet Supplies in the Covered Market and Shepherd & Woodward on the High Street. Then you can practice saying those beautiful and powerful words: "No thanks, I've got a bag."