The North's retailers today pledged themselves to reduce the environment impact of their carrier bags by 25% by the end of next year.
The moves comes in a joint initiative involving representatives from all areas of the retail sector in response to a concerted call by Environment Ministers in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England.
They have agreed to support the campaign together with the British retail Consortium and WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme) which manages waste prevention programmes for the four administrations.
The agreement gives flexibility to allow individual retailers to respond in ways which best suit their customers and their type of trading. National retail chains and independent retailers are all committed to the scheme.
The British government said if the 25% reduction target was achieved it could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 58,500 tonnes a year - the equivalent of taking 18,000 cars off they road for a year. It said it was another example of the simple practical measures that could be taken to help tackle climate change.
PA