Leave your shopping bags in your car from July 1, Maroons great Mal Meninga said on Monday, turning his big media profile to a campaign to stop choking plastic bags entering the environment.

One billion single-use thin plastic bags, weighing as much as 96 small cars every year in Queensland, will be banned from all major retailers and small shops by July 1.

Mal Meninga calls on shoppers to bring their own bags when they go shopping. Credit:Dan Peled/AAP

Most retailers will begin the ban from July 1, or face a $6300 fine each time they are caught using a thin plastic bag.

It is the beginning of a slow plan to reduce the amount of accumulated plastics in the environment.