If you are part of a retail business, then make sure you look into reducing your carbon footprint. New government schemes are in place to help encourage you to produce less waste, recycle more and use better sources of energy, so take advantage of the rewards they offer for this and make sure you set about doing your best possible job to make your business eco friendly.

It is amazing the small things that can make a difference when you think about it in terms of building up. Always make sure, for example, that customer and staff facilities are well maintained. A leaky tap or non energy saving bulb can mean that resources go down the drain and you ultimately lose out financially. Insulation and double glazing for your building is also important, to reduce energy bills. Try and get help subsidising fitting solar panels too, for renewable energy, as the government can help with this.

If you offer customers free samples, then you could use plastic washable plates and recycled paper cups that can be used again. In the staff room, you could use mugs instead of plastic cups on the water dispenser, as they will only end up in the bin and wasted. Make sure you look into locally sourced produce to sell and do the same for suppliers of your office equipment and so on. The closer to home you can source things, the more you are able to reduce your carbon footprint.

For customers, do think of offering alternatives such as cloth bags (you can have these decorated with a lovely brand slogan or logo to promote your company) and other reusable items such as this. Steer clear from paper and plastic bags, as these are both very bad for the environment. You could offer an incentive for customers using own bags, as this will help you overall and mean that you have to ship less of such supplies in.

Make sure too, that you recycle your cardboard and waste paper using the government schemes. The majority of plastic can also be recycled too now, so look into making sure the least possible of things go into the landfill from your site. Do make an effort to stock brands that are eco friendly in packaging and maybe go as far as to refuse to stock those who use excess plastic and suchlike on their products, boycotting them until they fix this.

These are such basic level things, but if you train staff to make sure that such measures are put in place (like encouraging reusable bags at the checkout, and making sure discarded magazine leaflets, labels and cardboard are put out for recycling, not in the bin), then you are making excellent steps in the right direction.

You would have heard a lot about how bad plastic is for the environment and how using plastic bags can be very damaging. At Bag It Don’t Bin It, we thought we would go one more step ahead in educating you on the ill effects of the plastic bag and plastic bottles. Here are ten revealing and some very shocking facts about plastic that you should know.

These facts will surely help strengthen your resolve to go against plastic and opt for environment friendly reusable bags. Here they go:

1. 3,600,000,000 plastic bags are being consumed per hour out of which only 1% is recycled.

2. Marine mammals often mistake plastic bags for food and ingest them, causing 100,000 deaths in a year.

3. An average of 300 plastic bags is consumed by a single adult in the UK every year.

4. 45% of shoppers in the UK have bought a bag for life, but only 12% use them!

5. Each year USA recycles more steel than aluminum, glass, paper and plastic combined.

6. In the USA itself, Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour

7. Even if photo-degradation takes place, the plastic from the bags never really degrades and since the time plastic bags have been used, none of it has degraded, which means every piece of the plastic ever made still exists.

8. Bottled water bottles if reused can leach a substance called DEHA, which is a carcinogen

9. Close to 90% of the marine litter floating is plastic, making it a major environmental hazard

10. Last year, 16 million gallons of oil was used in order to make plastic bottles for bottled water in the USA alone 

In response to the recent, televised, Leaders Debate, which saw Gordon Brown and David Cameron in lots of agreement with Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, we have launched an I Agree With Nick Eco-Bag.  Available in Sunny Yellow and Classic Black, the fairly-traded, cotton Eco-Bags are on sale in Nick's constituency at The Design Studio, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, priced at £4.00.

We make fairly traded, cloth, eco-bags, which we hand print at our Eco-Print Factory in the old industrial heartland of Sheffield, just on Nick Clegg’s doorstep. 

So, like David and Gordon, I decided to show my support for Nick in the best way I know how, by printing it on a bag.  Eco-Bags are very much the new “IT” bag, seen on the shoulder of every self-respecting fashionista, who willingly acts as a walking billboard for the latest brand advertising or political campaign. 

The question remains is will Nick’s stylish, wife Miriam be seen sporting a Bag It Don’t Bin It “I Agree With Nick” Eco-Bag this season?  And will Sam Cam and Sarah Brown be joining her or will it be Eco-Bags at dawn? 

Contact us to buy an I Agree With Nick Eco-Bag in Sunny Yellow or Classic Black, £5.00, delivered to your door, within 5 days.

Bag It Don't Bin It has been awarded the prestigious Made In Sheffield Mark in recognition of our high quality, innovative printing and manufacturing excellence. 

Sheffield has a long and proud history as a producer city. It became famous for products within the steel industry and with a cutting edge, which have been made in the areas surrounding Sheffield for a very long time. 

Driven by an eco-ethical philosophy, Bag It Don't Bin It is very much a forward-thinking, 21st Century business.  But our adherence to old fashioned, manufacturing principles, as exemplified by our highly skilled, Master Printers at our Eco-Print Factory in the city, ensures that we are shaped by, and are part of, Sheffield's industrial heritage. 

Boris Johnson launches campaign to bin plastic bags

Bag It Don't Bin It backs Boris Johnson's recently launched campaign to rid London of the plague of plastic bags.  Last month, the Mayor announced plans to make London the first plastic-bag-free city in the UK and in time for the Olympics in 2012. 

 Recognising the extensive and long lasting damage that plastic bags have on the environment, from the begininning of the production process to the end of the use where they swamp land-fill sites or harm wildlife, Boris, like Bag It Don't Bin It and a growing number of eco-bag users in Britain, understand that it's not difficult to stop this problem. 

Through raising awareness of the damage caused by plastic bags and by using incentives to encourage people to change their shopping bag to one made from a natural, sustainable material, such as cotton or jute, the negative impact on the environment is eradicated.

Bravo Boris.

For further information read the Times Online report.