THE introduction of the 5p plastic carrier bag charge yesterday seemed to pass peacefully yesterday, despite the dire predictions of high street chaos and retail armageddon.

There are certain sections of the legislation that are hazy, but it is up to politicians, the media and shoppers themselves to hold the big stores to account about where they are donating the £90m raised annually by the charge.

It is a little odd that the charge only applies to stores with 250 or more employees. It is good that the Government should try to support small traders, but surely a supermarket plastic bag damages the environment every bit as much as a corner shop’s plastic bag.

It should also be noted that one of the biggest beneficiaries is the Treasury – every 0.83p for each 5p bag goes in VAT which could raise £19m a year.

And it is also true that the charge will do nothing to tackle the even bigger problem of supermarket packaging – why does a cucumber, which comes naturally wrapped in a skin, need an additional skin of plastic wrapped round it?

However, overall, we believe that the charge is a good thing. Last year, 7.64bn bags were handed out in England, and as they don’t decompose, each and every one of them is still hanging about somewhere in landfill, on a hedge or in the sea (or in that bottom cupboard in the kitchen where things that might be useful one day are stashed).

If you really need a plastic bag, everyone can afford 5p.

But the most important statistic is that since the charge was introduced in Wales, the number of plastic bags handed out has fallen by 71 per cent. People are organising themselves so they use alternatives, like bags for life, which is not very difficult and so is obviously very beneficial to the environment.