No photos but more support from Highbury Barn traders

Michael Long at the Pharmacy, 14 Highbury Park
"Apart from anything else - greeness etc - plastic bags cost a fortune. We get staff to ask, 'Do you really need a bag?'"

Steve, manager of Da Mario, 34 Highbury Park & The Barn Store, 15 Highbury Park
"I say to staff ask people 'do you need a bag", so if they have got a pint of milk then they might think that they don't need one. It's not just the cost, it's the waste. In my experience that works. We've also give regulars our reusable cloth bags."

Jimmy at the Master Cobbler, 21A Highbury Park
"I spend #2,000 a year on plastic bags. Nowadays I reuse bags so that out of every 100 only 10 will need to be put into the rubbish."

Yehia el Nemer, owner of Oasis cafe at Highbury Fields
"I don't give out plastic bags. I support this idea 100 per cent."

Newsagent (with Time Out canopy)

Since July 2009 the newsagent at 9, Highbury Park, London, N5 2AB (just by the butcher) is the second shop in Highbury Barn to encourage customers to stop taking plastic bags by charging 5p for them.

Tip: newspapers and magazines are neatly carried in a cloth bag. If it's raining the combination of an umbrella and the plastic publishers wrap their products in should keep your reading material pristine and dry.

Frank Godfrey

Frank Godfreys Ltd, 7 Highbury Park, London N5 2AB is an award winning butcher. It sells its own reusable bags.

Tip: If you are trying to cut down on the plastic bags coming into your house take a tupperware container to carry your tasty meat purchases away.

Drugstore & Healthfoods

Drugstore and Healthfoods at 17, Highbury Park, London, N5 2AB (aka Natural Food Store and Fiveboys) is leading the way making Highbury Barn plastic bag free. Since 1 June 2009 the store charges 5p for plastic bags. It also sells compostable bags and partially compostable nappies.

Tip: If you've got a lot of shopping to carry (or heavy stuff like tins) then bring a couple of cloth bags or consider getting a trolley on wheels that looks a bit like a golf cart. There's plenty of room on the buses for them.

The Highbury Barn

The Highbury Barn pub at 26, Highbury Park, London, N5 2AB gives our main shopping street it's name. It's got plenty of racey history too - even the writer William Makepeace Thackeray featured the Highbury Barn in his 1848 novel Vanity Fair. It's over 500 pages long, but there's not a single mention of plastic bags.... because they hadn't yet been invented. Of love, lust, ingeniousness, scraps and wills there's plenty of mention though plus wicked (misunderstood?) Becky Sharpe.

Woodland Hardware

Woodland Hardware is at 20 Highbury Park, Highbury, London, N5 2AB.

"We always ask what bag customers want. We want to encourage people to bring their own bags so we don't automatically give plastic bags out. We also stock bio bags for composting and hope that soon we'll start using bags that customers can compost." June 2009

Newsagent (with Observer canopy)

The newsagents at 22, Highbury Park, London N5 2AB (by Woodland Hardware) are always keen to avoid giving out plastic bags. "When we had cloth bags all our customers wanted them," said Vi who runs the store.

La Fromagerie

La Fromagerie at 30 Highbury Park, London, N5 2AB stocks its own reusable bags.

Tip: instead of carting your deli cheese all the way home why not eat it in the shop on the benches provided?