What IKEA is doing for the environment in Europe.

Project Green Planet isn't just about what America is doing or can do to help the environment, its about what people and companies all over the world can do to make the world a better place. IKEA in the United Kingdom has made a plan to cut back on their plastic bag consumption by 20 million bags.

In their campaign, they have made three major changes to cut bag on the use of plastic bags. The first step is to stop offering free plastic carrier bags to customers, and instead charge them to use the bags in an attempt to get people to use reusable bags. Their second step is to switch over to all biodegradable bags while the third step in their campaign is to lower the price of IKEA's reusable Big Blue Bag.

IKEA's Environment Manager Charlie Browne (ha!) said, “The UK is addicted to plastic bags, and we are paying a high price for this in environmental terms. IKEA UK will reduce the cost of the famous reusable Big Blue Bag at the same time as starting to introduce a charge for carrier bags.This is because we want to discourage customers from one-off use of carrier bags, and help customers make an environmentally friendly choice."

Plastic bags are one of the biggest problems on earth when it comes to littering as well as waste. It's estimated that nearly 12 million barrels of oil are required to make the estimated 100 billion plastic shopping bags Americans go through annually. These 100 billion plastic bags cost retailers an estimated $4 Billion annually.

A quick fact according to reusablebags.com is that in 2001, Ireland consumed 1.2 billion plastic bags, or 316 per person. An extremely successful plastic bag consumption tax, or PlasTax, introduced in 2002 reduced consumption by 90%. Approximately 18,000,000 liters of oil have been saved due to this reduced production.

IKEA to Reduce Plastic Bag Consumption by 20 Million. - [IKEA]
Facts and figures regarding the true cost of plastic bags - [Reusablebags.com]