Could Kingston give up plastic bags for a day, for a week, a year – or for ever?

 

Towards a Plastic-Bag-Free Kingston is joining the many other British campaign groups working together to mark the world’s first ever Plastic-Bag-Free Day on Saturday September 12th. Local stores and shoppers, as well as national chains, will be invited to take this small step towards sustainability, and campaigners hope that encouraging shoppers everywhere to ditch plastic bags for a day will encourage them to ditch them for good and to take reusable bags with them whenever they shop. Many local events are planned in the 140 British towns and communities that have gone, or are hoping to go, plastic-bag-free, including a Towards a Plastic-Bag-Free Kingston stall in Kingston’s Market Place giving away bags and information to passing shoppers.

 

Joining in is easy

Shops in the borough can support the campaign by:

-          asking staff not to give out plastic bags at all on that day;

-          displaying their own Plastic-Bag-Free Day posters or posters from the Marine Conservation Society, allying themselves with this popular and growing environmental campaign;  

-          giving away their own branded long-life bags on Plastic-Bag-Free Day.

 

Shoppers can support the campaign by

-          taking their own bags with them when they go shopping on Saturday September 12th.

-          or, if they forget their bag, picking up and using a free long-life cloth bag from Towards a Plastic-Bag-Free Kingston’s stall in Kingston Market Place on September 12th;

-          signing the petition at Towards a Plastic-Bag-Free Kingston’s stall on September 12th.

 

Plastic bags – the ultimate symbol of our throw-away, disposable lifestyles

The 2008 MCS Beachwatch litter survey found 8,174 plastic bags littering UK beaches on just one weekend. Animals, especially marine turtles, accidentally eat plastic bags and this can cause them to starve to death.  Dr Sue Kinsey, MCS Pollution Programme Manager says “This is a fantastic initiative and will hopefully act as an incentive for everyone who still relies on plastic bags to leave them at the checkout. We need as many people as possible to take part to make the day a success and show that one of the most preventable forms of plastic litter can easily be stopped. Plastic bags are a menace to marine wildlife and blight our landscape.  Groups as far afield as Canada and Hawaii are taking part and making this a truly international day!”

 

Marilyn Mason, co-ordinator of Towards a Plastic-Bag-Free Kingston, plans a bag-making workshop in Kingston Environment Centre in August. The group will be giving away the bags they make and other long-life bags on September 12th, and hope that many Kingston shops will join the campaign, saving themselves money as well as improving the local environment. Marilyn comments: “Ideally a day’s abstinence from plastic bags will lead to a huge permanent reduction in their use, with all the economic and environmental benefits that would bring to Kingston and the rest of the UK.”

 

NOTES FOR EDITORS

 

The campaign is supported by the Marine Conservation Society, assisted by other national environmental organisations.  You can find out more about the national campaign and the many groups involved at www.mcsuk.org.

 

Find out more about the environmental problems caused by plastic bags, many of them, such as bags in the Thames, local, at www.greenerkingston.org.uk, where there are many photos (local, national and international, litter and wildlife) as well.

 

Marilyn Mason, co-ordinator of Towards a Plastic-Bag-Free Kingston, can be contacted at info@greenerkingston.org.uk or 020 8546 4086.

 

Although carrier bag use is declining, there is still a long way to go – see July 2009 - 346 million down, only 372 million to go!