BAN THE BAG
Plastic bags… Enough is Enough      It’s time to say NO

Why are plastic bags so bad? 

• 17.5 Billion bags given away nationally by supermarkets (enough to cover all of London, Manchester, Newcastle and West Yorkshire.
• Around 200 million plastic bags end up as waste and litter on beaches, streets and parks every year.
• Each consumer uses an average of 290 plastic bags, every year.
• Non-degradable polyethylene is used in construction.
• Few outlets for recycling plastic bags.
• They harm wildlife- on land, rivers and seas.
• Cost money- to produce, clear up and dispose of.
• Most are used only once and then are throw away.

So who is trying to change things?
Many people from all walks of life are saying enough is enough:

• Government has set a target to reduce the environmental impact of free carrier bags.
• Retailers and Supermarkets are slowly adopting different ways to reduce the bags they give out – ‘Bags for Life’, loyalty points and charging for bags.
• Towns and Communities are saying ‘NO!’ to the plastic bag. Modbury, in South Devon was the first to declare itself plastic bag free - 50 others are following! Could Guildford be next?

What can you or I do?
The answer is you can make a big difference just saying ‘NO!’ to free plastic carrier bags whenever you can. There are hundreds of different re-useable bags you can buy in all shapes, sizes and colours- cotton bags, durable plastic bags, string bags, Hessian bags, jute bags, designer bags, parachute material!

You just need to get into the habit of having some bags in handy. So keep some in your car, your handbag, pockets just in case. If you only have a few items, do you really need a bag anyway?

You will notice that alternatives to plastic packaging are popping up. Mostly corn cellulose is being used as a biodegradable alternative to plastic. The best way to deal with this material at home is to put it in your home composter if you have one. *

Who are ‘Ban the Bag’?
The Ban the Bag campaign has come about as a result of volunteers from a number of Guildford’s Community Recycling Groups coming together to try to stop the number of plastic carrier bags used in our town. GWFOE support this initiative.

We have already participated in one Ban the Bag event in Guildford, and more are planned next year.

Final note.

Plastic bags are only the tip of the iceberg as far as our use of the earth's resources, and we should beware of feeling that just by reducing our use of them we 'are doing our bit'. We may be doing a bit, but we still need to address all the other overconsumption practices that we are adopting.

* Corn cellulose bags are thin enough to break down in a home composter, but don't try this with a corn cellulose plastic foodtray or smoothie bottle - you'll find it lurking in the bottom of your compost heap untouched at all after a year. Thicker corn cellulose plastic needs the higher temperatures that industrial composters can achieve, so until food waste is collected by councils these items will still have to go to landfill.