Turning the tide on Plastic Bags
There is a sea change at work in our village – free plastic bags are becoming a thing of the past. We take this chance to recount how this has been achieved and to thank everyone for their contribution – from the person who says ‘no thanks’ to the free plastic bag – to our local businesses who support the campaign.
In mid-2007, a group of villagers met with the intention of creating a plastic bag free Forest Row. The success of the Modbury campaign in Devon was an inspiration. Once we started to look into this, it was far from straightforward - was the campaign about getting rid of plastic bags completely? Just eliminating free plastic bags? And what about biodegradable ‘plastic’ bags?
We realised that to make any campaign a success we would need to mobilise support of the local retailers - as they are the main source of bags. We invited a number of business leaders in the community to a focus-group session and also carried out a survey of local retailers to understand how big the problem was and what issues needed to be addressed to get them on board.
We then entered into the process of procuring an alternative bag that carried a distinctive Forest Row logo and strapline - thanks to Lee Hannam of yellowfish design. That in itself presented some challenges - agreeing something as subjective as a design by committee plus selecting the material from which the bag should be made – cotton or jute: which is the most sustainable? A real headache! We settled on jute.
The scheme involved retailers making a pledge, which they displayed in their window. Pledges ranged from merely asking customers if they needed a bag, to charging for them, or withdrawing them altogether.
Initially we secured a loan from a generous anonymous private donor who underwrote the bag production. A bag was produced and we ran a promotion using donations from local businesses, offering a free bag to the first 50 people to turn up at our stall at the Community Market. The bags disappeared within 15 minutes, and many more were sold.
So how did we do? Plastic bags are still given out in the village but much less freely than previously. Shopkeepers generally ask if one is needed and some businesses have actually introduced a charge. Over 500 branded bags plus 200 bags donated by East Sussex County Council are out there hopefully being well used. That’s a bag for every 3 homes in the village. The Seasons is acting as wholesale supplier to any shops that wish to stock the bags– and in our local bakery just the other day, a customer was heard asking for a bag, and the reply was ‘we’re plastic bag free here in Forest Row now.’
There is still work to be done particularly in engaging with the supermarkets in the village.
Making It real We still believe that Forest Row can become truly plastic bag free - if you do and would like to be involved in taking this campaign to the next stage, please contact us via the Parish Council. Alan Potter and Vania Phitidis
