Some say that getting rid of plastic bags is a diversion from the bigger environmental issues... We think that, on the contrary, going plastic bag free is a great foot in the door for further eco- action!
Going plastic bag free is a significant way of helping to reduce the massive waste and pollution problems caused by 'disposable' plastic. It is estimated that half the 77 kilos of plastic waste we all produce a year ends up not being recycled or in landfill, but in the world's seas, blown or washed from the land. In the North Pacific there is an area twice the size of Britain called 'The Garbage Patch' where four ocean currents converge and deposit their plastic waste.
Scoopaway, a whole food shop on Gloucester Road, has seen a reduction in bag use, since the start of our campaign, from over 200 bags a day to about 8! That's a drop of about 60,000 bags a year!!! Multiply that by shops up and down a major shopping street and the effect is pretty major.
GRAB has also introduced a huge number of people to related environmental issues and encouraged them to take responsibilty for their actions, through thinking before taking a bag.
The benefit of the campaign is that people really do change their behaviour in a meaningful way, without any great sacrifice to themselves. In addition it has brought together the local trading community and given another reason for local residents and shoppers to feel proud of Gloucester Road, and loyal to it.
If you are a trader/campaigning group in Bristol (or beyond) and would like to find out more about how we went about our campaign then please contact us and we'll do our best to help you!
We will be updating this part of the website soon with more information on how to make your local shops plastic bag free and enliven your community...
...In the meantime please have a look at the sub-sections for more details.
For a great overview of the plastic bag free movement, please see Modbury’s excellent website: www.plasticbagfree.com Modbury was Britain’s first town to go plastic bag free.