Who Are GRAB?
GRAB - The Gloucester Road Alternative Bag Campaign - is a group of local residents, shoppers and traders who are interested in helping the Gloucester Road become more sustainable - environmentally and economically.
What Does GRAB Want?
GRAB wants to make Gloucester Road the first area in Bristol to go plastic carrier bag free. Over 60 businesses have signed up so far, so we are well on the way! Having started off talking to the independent traders that Gloucester Road is rightly famous for, we are now looking to tackle the bigger chainstores.
We want all Gloucester Road traders to provide their customers (only when needed) with an alternative to the ubiquitous free plastic carrier bag that is less damaging to the environment.
Where Is GRAB Working?
Gloucester Road is a shopping street just north of Bristol's centre. Covering Bishopston, Horfield and St Andrews, it is well known for its amazing collection of independent shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs.
We are mainly focusing on the stretch of street from the bottom of Gloucester Road to the top of Pigsty Hill at Cambridge Road, though we do have quite a few shops signed up above this point as well. We hope the initiative might spread further south into Stokes Croft and north into Horfield and Filton...
How Will GRAB Achieve Its Goals?
Shoppers will be encouraged to remember to bring their own bags when they come out to shop. All participating shops will have a supply of information cards that customers can stick up near their front door to remind them to take a bag out with them when they go shopping.
If shoppers forget to bring a bag there will be a compostable potato starch or paper bag option available in shops that have pledged remove plastic carriers (though some will continue to have plastic bags until their current stock runs out). Otherwise they will be able to purchase a special reusable, and ethically sourced and printed, Gloucester Road cloth bag in some outlets.
We don't want our 'disposable plastic bag culture' to be replaced by a 'compostable bag culture', however, so shops will be charging/ asking for donation of 5p for all carrier bags handed out. As well as covering some of the extra costs incurred to the shopkeepers (alternatives are more expensive financially), charging for bags will make people think twice before taking one.
Compostable potato starch bags will rot down completely into the soil in a compost site- they turn into carbon dioxide, water, and non-toxic raw materials. They create a safe and healthy contribution to the soil. They’re particularly good idea in Bristol, as they can go in our brown food bins once they are not strong enough to be reused any more (though they must carry the looped seedling logo to do so).
GRAB is lucky to have a professional press officer (Helen Burley) working for it. There has been a significant amount of local press coverage of the campagn. This obviously informs local shoppers of the changes, but is also a valuable promotional tool for Gloucester Road.
Why Are Plastic Bags Such A Problem?
Plastic bags are a powerful symbol of our wasteful culture, yet they are an issue we can tackle without much hardship. To stand a hope of combating the larger problems of this age we must be able to deal with plastic bags!
The problem is much more than the 'visual pollution' of bag litter. Endless billions of new bags squander non-renewable fossil-fuel resources and add to the carbon footprint. Plastic waste is lethal to animals and birds, particularly at sea, where it can lead to creatures becoming tangled, choked and starved. Even when plastic is broken into tiny pieces, it acts as a sponge and attracts pollution, which travels up the food chain, eventually reaching our plates.
We have more plastic bag facts and defintions under the plastic bag free section of this site, and also further information about going plastic bag free.