Asda Go Green for Schools Scheme

The pulp and paper industry is the world's fifth largest industrial consumer of energy and uses more water to produce a ton of product than any other industry.

2-4 weeks - Paper Tissue
6 weeks - Shredded Newspaper
2 months - Apple Core
3 months - Cardboard Box
5 months - Cardboard Milk Carton
50 years - Polystyrene Cup
100 years - Plastic Carrier Bag
200 years - Drinks Can
450 years - Plastic Bottle
Undetermined - Glass Bottle

Although carrier bags today use 70% less plastic than they did 20 years ago, most are still made from polythene, a kind of plastic which is non-degradable and can take up to 100 years to break down.

For every one billion plastic bags produced, 9,000 tonnes of plastic is used and18,000 tonnes of CO² produced.

More than 14 billion bags are handed out in supermarkets each year and the average British family gets through 300 carrier bags per year. Eight billion of those bags are sent to landfill sites each year.

Once on those landfill sites the bags slowly begin to break down, but as carrier bags decompose they release more CO² a flammable greenhouse gases which contributes to global warming.

ASDA is one of 22 supermarkets and high street chains that have agreed to cut the environmental impact of the carrier bags they give out by 25% by the end of 2008.

Educating and helping customers to reduce, reuse and recycle their carrier bags. If the 25% reduction is achieved, this could reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by 58,500 tonnes a year. This is equivalent to taking 18,000 cars off the road for a year.

ASDA will be reducing the environmental impact of bags by:

Encouraging customers to significantly reduce the number of carrier bags they use;
Provide bag recycling bins to enable customers to recycle more bags where appropriate;
Reduce the impact of each carrier bag (by using less material or incorporating recycled content);
Through the ‘Go Green for Schools’ campaign, encourage customers to get into the habit of re-using their bags.

Consumers are increasingly aware that they can make positive choices to help the environment in the way they shop. People can show how the small, simple changes can make a big difference to the environment.