Creative campaign: Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau chats with a student about the design of her own earth-friendly canvas tote.

Registered retailers must start charging customers not less than 50 cents for each shopping bag with handles starting July 7 under the environmental levy scheme on plastic shopping bags, Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau says.

A prescribed retailer is required to apply for registration with the Environmental Protection Department as a registered retailer in respect of its qualified retail outlets on or before June 5, if it is to continue to provide plastic shopping bags to customers from July 7.

At the scheme's publicity campaign launch today, Mr Yau called on people to take their own bags instead of using plastic shopping bags.

"With an effort from all of us, I am confident that we will be able to reduce the local consumption of plastic shopping bags by billions within a year," said Mr Yau.

The Environmental Protection Department organised the exhibition at the Times Square Open Piazza yesterday and today, and it will be held at other venues in the city.

The department is also organising a "My Dream Shopping Bag" design competition for students, to raise awareness of environmental protection and the need to bring your own bag. The deadline is the end of June and the winners will be announced in early July.