There are several reasons for our new, improved name:
- It demonstrates our affiliation to a much bigger umbrella group, Greener-upon-Thames, which started up in our neighbouring borough Richmond with much the same aims. Working together, we can be a much louder voice for change as well as sharing information and work. Some of the links in this website will now take you to the Greener-upon-Thames website, and vice-versa.
- "Greener" takes us back to the origins of this campaign, which were a much wider concern about the environment, recycling and waste, plastic waste in particular. So we hate waste of all kinds - plastic bags were a place to start change, not the end point, and when we have binned the bag, we hope to move on to other aspects of our wasteful, throwaway society and a truly "Greener Kingston".
- It's a much neater, less clunky, name than Towards a Plastic-Bag-Free Kingston, don't you agree?
We will continue to to campaign, locally for a plastic-bag-free Kingston upon Thames and more widely, by raising awareness of the harm plastic does to the environment and of the alternatives. We support plastic-bag-free shops and zones and we encourage retailers to stop giving out plastic and other throw-away bags and to stock and give away or sell the alternatives: long-life shopping bags and starch-based bags for food and waste. We encourage shoppers to request, buy and use these alternatives. We are also working with Greener-upon-Thames to collect signatures on a petition to Government as well as pledges from shops and local politicians to reduce use and support a ban or levy.
We will continue to offer information to shoppers and retailers about a range of alternatives and where to obtain them. Our information pages are regularly updated so do please revisit or register to be notified of updates - and now we have links to even more pages, on Greener Upon Thames website.
We are told that shops will only stop giving away plastic bags when consumers ask them to - so please do ask them to, in person by refusing bags when shopping or by writing to stores, especially their head offices. Things are moving in a Greener direction - so let's help them!