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GRAB  - Gloucester Road Alternative Bag Campaign

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Bristol MP Stephen Williams will join GRAB on the Gloucester Road at 10am on Saturday 12th September to find out more about the Gloucester Road traders’ and shoppers’ contribution to the International Plastic Bag Free Day.

Advance Notice:  Saturday 12th September 2009

BRISTOL'S GLOUCESTER ROAD JOINS INTERNATIONAL PLASTIC BAG FREE DAY

Shoppers on Bristol’s Gloucester Road will be urged to support the first ever International Plastic Bag Free Day on Saturday 12th September 2009 to reduce plastic pollution on beaches and in the sea [1].

Campaigners from GRAB will be out on the streets encouraging shoppers to use a re-usable bag as part of the day’s activities [2], which comes almost a year after the GRAB campaign launched on the Gloucester Road.

GRAB will join representatives from Sustainable Bishopston who are holding one of series of stalls to help raise awareness of their activities as part of the transition town movement - which have included new cycle racks for Gloucester Road, noticeboards and talks and events to help raise awareness about climate change [3].

More than 60 shops on the Gloucester Road signed up to the Gloucester Road Alternative Bag (GRAB) campaign when it launched in September last year, encouraging shoppers to use re-usable bags and charging for compostable alternatives.

A survey of the shops found that many had cut bag use by more than 80% with more than 100,000 fewer bags given out to Gloucester Road shoppers [4].

Gaby Solly from GRAB said:

“The vast majority of shoppers on the Gloucester Road are already using re-usable bags, preventing thousands of plastic bags from littering our seas and coastlines. We want to celebrate their success by joining with towns and cities across the world in the International Plastic Bag Free Day, which we hope will encourage even more shoppers to say no to plastic when they shop.”

Tim Kilburn from Scoopaway on the Gloucester Road said:

“We’ve seen a massive downturn in customers requesting bags and some customers are even bringing their own containers for loose produce, so completely getting rid of the need for packaging. We don’t automatically proffer a bag now and we charge 5p for every bag handed out. I think retailers can take some responsibility for reducing the consumption by a change of mindset themselves.”

GRAB will also be inviting shoppers to send a letter to the chainstores on the Gloucester Road asking them to join the campaign by introducing charges for their bags.

The International Plastic Bag Free Day, which is supported by the Marine Conservation Society, is calling on shoppers to ditch plastic bags and use re-usable bags every time they shop.

ENDS