The UK has gone into turmoil this week and there is no looking back on how we used to see shopping prior to the life changing event that has taken place in the recent days. You used to be able to walk into your local supermarket, rock up to the till with a couple of tins and roll out with it all in a strong, FREE plastic bag, but gone are those days. Now, in this modern age that we live in, our hard earned cash (or easily earned student loan) is being punished to spend 5 pence on a single bag for our troubles! 5 PENCE! How on earth are we going to get that six pack of beers, bottle of vodka and frozen pepperoni pizza back to our flat now?

From clothing retailers, right through to your local fruit and veg stall, you’ll be parting with your pennies everywhere, so here at the SPG, we only thought it would be necessary to devise a cunning list on how you can use those expensive bags. And here it is, five through to one…

Recycle, duh…
Seems a bit obvious and probably the whole reason why the government started the campaign, but recycling your 5p bag will save you hundreds… of pennies. You may not look the coolest ice cube in the freezer in the long run, as you carry your nifty bag for life round the streets, but who’ll be laughing when you’re rolling the dollar and making the most of your spare change? That’s right, you will be, you bag champion.

Emergency Underwear…
Ever had a time when you’ve forgotten to take some spare underwear to a sleep over or you’ve accidentally messed the pair you’re wearing (don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone)? Well, this is where your 5p bag can come in as an absolute life saver and with that, you’ll have a spare pair of undies no matter where you are. Simply push your legs through the base of your bag, tie the handles around your front like a belt and there you go, a fresh (albeit plasticy) set of undergarments at only 5p.

Sell it off…
Set up shop outside your local supermarket or in your town centre and sell of your collected bags on an entrepreneurial stall. What’s more, you can undercut the market like an outlet clothes dealer, so you’ll easily shift all your unwanted bags off at 3p a piece. Just think of it like this, as a great man named Jordan Belfort once said, it’s all about supply and demand, baby.

Pull a prank…
Pranks are a wicked student pass time, so the 5p bag charge can add up to be a quick and cheap thrill for you and your creative ways. Simply stock up on all of your favourite carrier bags from your weekly shopping trips at uni and then, run wild in a baggy misbehaviour. Plastering them all of your flatmates door is always a laugh; if not stashing them in their wardrobe is good too, but pretty much anyway that is possible to annoy them, just do it.

Buy the Trolley instead…
This is where the government hasn’t been so clever. Ten bags are 50p and twenty bags equal £1, but why not just buy a trolley instead, as they only cost a quid too. When weighing up the pros and cons of bags to trolleys, you can have a shed load more fun rolling about in a four wheel, cage wagon, rather than carrying a limp, lifeless plastic bag. You can fit all of your shopping and a flat mate in a trolley and pimp it up to a personal level too, where as a bag, is well… just a bag? If worse comes to worst, someone in your halls will definitely have a trolley, so nick theirs instead.

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