A London shop owner is celebrating more than £1,500 raised for good causes through the plastic bag levy by encouraging more retailers to get fully behind the fundraising method.

Ravi Raveendran of Colombo Food & Wine in Hounslow, London told Better Retailing that some shop owners he’d spoken to remained unaware that profits from the sale of carrier bags must go to charity.

The requirement was introduced in England in 2021 as part of efforts to tackle single-use plastics. Stores must charge at least 10p for new plastic carrier bags and give anything beyond their costs to a good cause.

For Raveendran, this equates to 7p from every 10p bag going to one of his chosen charities. He explained: “I log [bag sales] on the till and use the end of day report to keep tabs. Since the requirement was introduced in 2021, I’ve raised £1,533.68 for four UK-registered charities close to my heart that empower the plantation community in Sri Lanka through funding educational services – The TEA Project, The Tea Leaf Trust, Blossom Trust and Malayaga Makkal Ondrium.”

Beyond simply donating the funds, he advised shop owners to speak to customers about where the proceeds go at the counter. He stated: “Importantly, I make sure to tell customers when they buy a bag or donate to our collection pots, what kind of things their money will be spent on, we also ask them if they would like to scan a QR code to find out more about what the charity does.”

The shop owner also suggested using a poster to keep customers informed of how much has been raised. An organisation linked to Raveendran’s chosen causes kindly produced one for his store, shown below.

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