Should you leave your excess packaging at the checkout?

I'm sure that the top brass in big retail companies were also pretty cheesed off, since many are engaged in active dialogue with the government on ways to reduce packaging waste.

The collective ears of trading standards officers up and down the country must have pricked up, too, since Mr Bradshaw also encouraged shoppers to report retailers allegedly guilty of overpackaging to their local trading standards office.

It's pretty unusual to hear a government minister encourage the use of direct action to try to resolve a problem, but I wonder how many people have heeded the call?

Packaging has become quite an emotive issue, especially as it forms a sizeable part of your weekly shopping bill (anything from three-10per cent depending on your shopping habits).

I am sure that almost everyone can point to a product that is unnecessarily packaged.

Although there are many offenders, especially toy, computer and electrical equipment manufacturers, it is the food industry that really cops the blame as far as the government is concerned.

According to Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) figures, food packaging now accounts for a third of all household waste and has increased by 12 per cent in the last six years.

It is easy to see how this happened if you take a look around a supermarket.

There are shrink-wrapped fruits and vegetables that have travelled thousands of miles, superfluous cardboard boxes or sleeves around items such as pizzas, meat or biscuits and unnecessary plastic film around multipack items such as cat food tins or bottled water.

Yet, is it all the fault of the food retailers?

We, as consumers, should take part of the blame as our lifestyles have altered the way we shop and many of us are cash rich but time poor nowadays and demand the easy option.

Ready meal sales have increased enormously in the last few years and most of these are contained in types of plastic that are designed to withstand heat and are therefore not recyclable.

Products such as ready peeled carrots, mashed potato and meat ready for cooking have all appeared relatively recently for those who dislike the idea of ready meals but like their convenience and that they give the illusion of cooking for yourself.

Picnics nowadays are rarely made at home, but consist of ready-packed sandwiches, salads or snacks that are all highly packaged.

Yes, we can blame food retailers for their existence, but the point is that we all buy them.

My advice would be to boycott overpackaged products in favour of less-packaged alternatives.

Recycling is great, but not producing waste in the first place is even better.

If you choose to follow the advice of Mr Bradshaw, I would be interested to hear of your experiences.

I'm sure you won't be too popular with checkout operators or other customers!