Guardian: Seven major supermarkets today reached an agreement with the government to halve by spring 2009 the number of single-use carrier bags being handed out in stores around the UK. The deal, between the British Retail Consortium and the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs, will see 5m fewer bags being handed out each year — enough to fill 60 Olympic-sized swimming pools, the government has estimated. Asda, the Co-op, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Somerfield, …