A Hamilton restaurant has raised more than $1,000 for charity after it axed plastic and charged for paper bags.

The owner of Nonna’s Kitchen has called on other businesses to follow the lead and for the Bermuda Government to impose a tax on throwaway bags.

Katerina Smith said: “I believe that in order for us to protect the environment, everybody needs to pay and the moment you start paying, you actually start to be more concerned.

“When it’s free, people just take it, but nothing is free. We can do so much better and I would like it if everybody started charging for bags.

“There should be a law in Bermuda. It’s law in other countries — why can’t we change it?”

Ms Smith explained that Nonna’s started to charge for bags on February 1 last year as part of its environmental campaign.

She said: “I always wanted to do something for the environment. The first thing I did when I bought my business was get rid of the plastic bags as they have always been a huge problem for me.”

Ms Smith, who bought the business in October 2016, said she wanted to make customers think about whether they needed a bag and to encourage them to bring their own.

Charges ranged from 5c for a small, handleless bag, to 15c for a small bag with a handle, and 20c for a large bag with a handle.

All proceeds were earmarked for the Bermuda National Trust to plant endemic trees on its nature reserves and open spaces.

Ms Smith said the majority of customers had approved of the change.

She added: “The support has been enormous.”

Ms Smith said: “So far we have collected $1,166.55. I’m actually excited that we didn’t collect too much money.

“The less money we collected, the better because it actually showed that our campaign is working.”

William Zuill, Bermuda National Trust executive director, said the charity was thrilled to receive the donation.

He added: “Every effort, no matter how small, helps, and if every business adopted Nonna’s approach, it would make a huge difference.

“We applaud Ben and Katerina Smith for this initiative which we hope will both reduce the use of single-use bags in the community and help the environment by increasing the number of trees and mitigating carbon emissions.”

Mr Zuill agreed that the less money raised, the more successful the project was “because that would mean that everyone was bringing their own reusable bags to the restaurant”.

He added: “However, the $1,000 raised will be put to good use as we plant endemic trees throughout our properties.”

Mr Zuill said the funds would buy at least 25 cedar saplings.