Feb. 29, 2008 - Beginning in May, British retailer Marks & Spencer will roll out a 5 pence charge for food carrier bags at all of its U.K.  stores to encourage customers to use fewer bags. The nationwide program is the extension of successful pilot projects in Northern Ireland and southwest England, which caused a 70% drop in bag use.

"This move lies at the heart of our 100-point eco plan, Plan A. We want to make it easy for our customers to do their bit to help the environment and our trials have shown us that they want to take action," says CEO Sir Stuart Rose. "Just imagine if M&S customers right across the U.K. cut the number of food bags they use by 70% – that’s over 280 million bags they’d be saving every year."

Proceeds from bag sales will be donated to environmental projects. So far the program has raised 80,000 pounds for greenspace development.

To listen to Sir Stuart Rose discuss the early returns on the Plan A program, click here.