WE'RE a region of bag lovers!

North West shoppers use more than 920 million carrier bags every year -- enough to cover Manchester more than twice!

According to reserach from the Department of Environment, Transport and Regions' 'are you doing your bit?' campaign, the humble supermarket carrier bag is the bag that most Northerners would choose to be seen using again and again in public -- for everything from carrying books to college to a stroll down the high street.

The new research has revealed the supermarket carrier bag to be the most popular plastic bag to reuse -- even more popular than designer bags such as Harrods or Gucci, and bags from fashionable high street stores like Gap and Next.

And, says the DETR, reusing plastic carrier bags is good news for the environment because it helps to reduce the amount of waste we throw away.

In just one year, industry sources estimate that UK shoppers use eight billion plastic carrier bags -- in other words:

323 for every household in England.

134 for every person in the UK.

And enough to cover an area almost 200,000 times the size of Oxford Street.

The survey results showed that, when people in the North choose to reuse their plastic bags:

59 per cent of people prefer to reuse a supermarket plastic carrier bag for high street shopping.

57 per cent of people prefer to reuse a supermarket plastic carrier bag to carry food, like their lunch.

42 per cent of people prefer to reuse a supermarket plastic carrier bag to carry books or materials to work, school or college.

But when they go to the gym, Northerners are more fashion conscious -- 35 per cent choose to reuse a plastic bag from fashionable stores.

However, nearly one in five people in each situation surveyed preferred not to reuse carrier bags.

And with the average carrier bag taking many years to decompose, this could lead to problems in years to come.

TV celebrity Michaela Strachan, campaign spokesperson, said: "Supermarket carrier bags may not be glamorous, but it's encouraging that people in the North West are finding ways to reuse them -- we're clearly all bag ladies at heart!

"Reusing plastic bags can make a big difference to reducing waste, so why not do your bit and think what else you could use them for before you throw them away, or take advantage of the many alternative schemes offered by supermarkets, such as Bags for Life?"

Most supermarkets now cheaply sell Bags for Life which can be reused every time you shop.

For more information about how you can 'do your bit' for the environment, ring 0345 868686.