20.05.08

 

Women turned up in force to get their free Sainsbury’s bag for life with the Swindon advertiser today.

 

The promotion was to buy the newspaper outside the store and get a free bag for life.

Sainsbury’s aim to halve all plastic bag usage by April 2009 and today was an effort to promote this campaign.

Manager of the Swindon advertiser promotions team Ruth Moss says :" Today we have definitely seen more women then men. We have been here for the most of the day and women are definitely the majority. However it is the middle of the day so I suppose you may expect to see fewer men during the working day.”

Over lunchtime 12 women got their free bag for life in comparison to only three men.

Adam Wood ,19, says: “I’m actually buying the paper outside because it saves me going in. Though I know my mum uses these bags so I can give it to her. I wouldn’t carry one of these around it’s a mum thing isn’t it.”

It would appear that women do use the re-usable carrier bag and front the majority of the campaigns but is there a far simpler reason for men choosing not to use these type of bags.

Lecturer at the University of Reading Alison Butler says: " There may be a link to the design of the bag and the gender that prefer to use them. Ideologically throughout time women have always carried handbags . Men may assume with the hsape and nature of the bag that it is a handbag and may not want to be seen with one. Many of these bags are shaped as handbags and often have eco friendly patterns and pictures such as flowers,and hearts which obviously is not going to encourage men to carry them. I'm sure men do carry them but there is a possibility that if they were not so female friendly and possibly more Asexual you'd see an increase of men using them."

Sainsbury’s are also offering a recycling service in each of its 490 main stores.