People who live in Penistone, near Barnsley, have signed up to the town's Carry-a-Bag campaign, which has encouraged everyone to ditch carriers in favour of reusable bags.

The first day of the ban on plastic will be this Saturday, during which shops in the town will start to reduce the use of one-trip plastic carrier bags, according to co-ordinators.

By the weekend, every household in the town should also have received a free cotton shopping bag, to replace carriers picked up at the checkout.

The bags have been distributed by 100 volunteers and by Barnsley Council bin men, who have dropped off the new shopping bag at homes which are isolated.

Members of the local Friends of the Earth branch came up with the idea of stopping plastic bag use after dredging the River Don, which runs through the town.

In just a few hours they collected hundreds of carriers and subsequently carried out research which showed that two million plastic bags were used in the district every year.

Helen Fryers, who has helped organise the Penistone Carry-a-Bag Campaign, said: "We hope many people will join in the launch day activities and help us get the campaign off to a good start.

"We have received fantastic support from traders and residents to date and feel confident that together the whole community will get into the habit of saying "no" to free carrier bags and take their own shopping bags. That will be good news for the environment and help cut plastic waste in the town".

More than 60 local traders have already pledged their support for the scheme, with the town's branch of the Co-operative supermarket donating 6,000 reusable bags to the town.

Penistone's Co-operative store manager Mick Taylor said his bosses had been happy to help him cut down on the use of plastic carriers by supplying the reusable bags.

He added: "The Co-operative fully backs local initiatives to substantially reduce plastic carrier bag usage and we're very pleased to be supporting local campaigners in Penistone.

"The Co-operative was the first food retailer to introduce degradable plastic bags in 2002, and in February 2007 the Co-operative launched the UK's first supermarket Bag for a Better Life, made with Fairtrade-certified cotton, priced at 99p.

"We also offer a plastic Bag for Life, priced at 10p, which we will replace for free and then recycle."

There will be a celebration of the town's environmental achievement on Saturday with a series of activities throughout Saturday, including a plastic bag amnesty, which will allow shoppers to return old bags for recycling.

Hand-made shopping bags will also be on sale and a workshop will also take place at St John's Church which aims to teach residents the skills
to make their own shopping bags out of off-cuts of old material.

If you have not received your free bag yet, contact the campaign on 01226 790713 or email penistonefoe@hotmail.co.uk