Gotta Love Banchory!

Posted June 27th, 2008 by APB

That’s it…I’m moving to Banchory! ……..

First because of the great primary school, which has just won a national award for their work on plastic bags………………… Well Done!

Second, because not only were they campaign of the week recently, but I love this idea…’Stickers for your Steering Wheel‘ I quote: “So many shoppers tell us that they have left their reusable bags in the car, we had 2,000 of these stickers produced and gave them away with
the bags. “

Brilliant!

Thanks for the vote of confidence APB.

The Banchory campaigners are taking a well-earned break over the Summer, but are planning a ‘follow-up’ to the campaign in early November when we think shoppers might need a reminder to keep up their good habit.

The exciting news has just hit Banchory that the Primary 2/3 Class won the Total Total Green Award.

The Green School Awards, organised by the Young People’s Trust for the Environment (YPTE), were launched in 2006 to encourage cross-curricular work on the environment in primary schools and stimulate interest in both conventional and alternative energy sources.

The Awards enable teachers to bring the environment into many areas of study across the national curriculum for England, Wales and Scotland.

Participating schools develop projects which compete for regional awards, with regional award winners then going on to a National Green School Awards final ceremony.    Over 100 schools engaged in this national initiative during school term 2006/7.

The national final ceremony is held at London Zoo and Banchory Primary 2/3’s, having won the Scottish Division, caught the ‘Red-Eye’ early flight down from Aberdeen to be present.  The winners receive a four day all expenses paid environmental discovery course run by the Trust.

If anyone reading this wants more information visit www.yptenc.org.uk.

WELL DONE to Banchory Primary 2/3’s and to Ruth Macdonald, their teacher.

Unfortunately, I had to miss the Fair but, as you can see, the team did a great job on setting-up our stall and had a wonderful day……….. until  a torrential storm hit Banchory!

Despite the weather, they managed to give away lots and lots of bags and had good responses from everyone they talked with about the campaign.

We do have some bags left, and plan to do a follow-up day after a few months when we think shoppers might need reminding to bring their bags with them when they go shopping.

I must add that I keep my new ‘Cleaner, Greener, Banchory’ bag folded in my handbag and have found it extremely useful.  It holds an amazing amount of shopping and sits very comfortably on my shoulder when full.  Well done to Go Green Bags for designing such a useful bag.

So many shoppers tell us that they have left their reusable bags in the car, we had 2,000 of these stickers produced and gave them away with the bags.  Hopefully, they will act as a reminder before shoppers leave their cars. 

They are 30×30mm, printed in up to full colour onto self-adhecisve vinyl and cut to the shape of a bag complete with handle cutout.  They came on approx A4 sheets with silicone backing for peel-and-stick application.

Thanks to the APB blog for the link, and for making us campaign of the week!

Not only have Somerfield made a great display of some of the children’s posters, they have agreed to put our Notices of Support for the Banchory bags Campaign on EVERY check-out till both in the food store and in the adjacent petrol station.

Well done, Somerfield.

The Banchory bags Campaign team will be giving away the 2,000 ‘Cleaner, Greener, Banchory’ bags at St. Ternan’s Fair next Saturday.

Unfortunately, I will not be with them.  However, I am sure that I have left it all in very good hands and that the event will be a huge success. 

We are all hoping that we will have a repeat of the glorious weather we have had in Banchory this weekend as that would ensure a good turn-out.

I will get someone to take some photos and will write a blog about it when I get back in a couple of weeks.

GOOD LUCK TEAM.

The Marine Conservation Society thought our Banchory Primary P2/3 children were so good, they gave them a special mention on their blog.

Three officers from the Aberdeenshire Council Waste Aware Department brought their BIG BUS to help members of the team raise the awareness of Banchory residents to the bags Campaign as well as broader environmental issues.  They were most impressed by the numbers of Banchory shoppers who were already carrying their own reusable bags.

Team members also stood in the High Street talking with the few shoppers who were still carrying plastic bags and gave away many of our bookmarks with Hints and Tips on how to remember your bags. 

We also told them that next Saturday, June 14, BbC will be giving away 2,000 ‘Cleaner, Greener, Banchory’ bags at St. Ternan’s Fair in the local Bellfield Park.  [Go Green assure me that the bags WILL have cleared Customs and be delivered to Banchory early that morning!  It's a bit nerve wracking, but we have gone ahead with articles in the local press, etc, on the assumption that they will arrive.  Fingers and toes crossed!]

The Waste Aware team kindly said that they would be happy to come along and help next Saturday, too, but without their bus as there would not be room with all the other stalls that will be gathering for the Fair.   That will be great.  Many thanks, they have been most helpful.

I thought I would just show you a photo of all our happy Primary School Prize Winners, pictured after the prize giving ceremony at the Poster Exhibition.<a

Having taken down all the children’s posters, we are now taking them around to the shops which, when we interviewed them earlier in the year, said they would be happy to display them.  We have given the shops a choice of the 230 posters received.  They have all been delighted by the engaging and eye-catching artwork, and have been more than happy to put the posters up.

We have also asked EVERY shop in the town [over 70] to display a notice which says

WE SUPPORT THE BANCHORY bags CAMPAIGN

ALONG WITH OTHER TRADERS IN BANCHORY,

WE RECOGNISE THAT WE LIVE AND WORK IN

ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES IN THE

COUNTRY

WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE ENVIRONMENTAL

DAMAGE THAT CAN BE CAUSED BY SINGLE-

USE PLASTIC CARRIER BAGS, AND WE ARE

COMMITTED TO REDUCING THE NUMBER

OF THESE BAGS WE GIVE AWAY

All the shops approached so far have been happy to display this notice on their counter by the till and we hope that it will act as a reminder to shoppers to SAY NO TO A PLASTIC BAG and BRING THEIR OWN.

Fergus was the winner from Durris School.  The other winners were -

Alec Sutton, Crathes Primary School, P1

Alba Strachan, Strachan Primary School, P5

Ruaraidh Mac Leod, Drumoak Primary, Aged 9

Adam Henry, Hill of Banchory Primary, Aged 10

WELL DONE, to all these children.

The The Exhibition of the posters the primary school children of the community produced in support of the campaign opened yesterday evening.  It was brilliant. 

I had spent all week worrying that nobody would turn-up, despite having sent out approximately 100 invitations.  As it was, we had about 80 present, which was just perfect for the size of the venue, and today there has been a steady stream of visitors, and we hope the same will happen tomorrow.

Maureen Watt, MSP, [who also happens to be Minister for Skills & Schools] formally opened the exhibition and gave out the prizes - a winner and two runners-up for each of the six schools.  She obviously has a good relationship with the Heads and Teachers in the local schools and, I could see, that they were absolutely thrilled that she had taken the time to come and see the effort their children had put into supporting the campaign. 

In her speech Maureen commented on how good it was to see the children participating in environmental projects.  She mentioned having recently visited Banchory Primary P2/3 and congratulated them on their success in the Total Total Green Award [mentioned below].

Our Overall Winner was Fergus Upton, Aged 6, from Durris Primary School. Congratulations to Fergus [who, most unfortunately, was ill last night and his prize and certificate will be presented to him at School Assembly on Monday].  His poster is pictured above.

A random selection of some of their P2/3 posters. 
 

This class has just won the Scottish Division of the TOTAL ‘Total Green Award’ for schools as a result of what they have done to support the Banchory bag Campaign, and all the class is going down to London for the judging of the National Winner and a visit to London Zoo [which for children from the North of Scotland may be a 'once in a lifetime' experience.  They are all over-the-moon, including their teacher.  I believe the school will also receive £1,000 from Total.

Last week they sold another 500 of their own-design cotton bags in Banchory's Somerfield [well done, Somefield, for inviting them to sell bags in the store].  That makes 1,000 bags they have sold.

Sharon and I spent Saturday afternoon looking through the posters that many of the children of Banchory, Hill of Banchory, Durris, Drumoak, Crathes and Strachan Primary Schools produced.  They are brilliant and I will put photos of some of them on the blog over the next few weeks.

Unfortunately, we will not have enough space in Woodend Barn to hang all the posters received and choices had to be made.  I hope that all those that we are not able to display in the Barn will be hung in the various schools.

Below is a random selection from Durris School.

 This leaflet will be inserted into the Banchory & District Initiative Community Newsletter which will be delivered to every household in Banchory and the surrounding district in the next few weeks.

I would like to thank the Raemoir Garden Centre for their efforts to help the campaign.  They are doing a good job.  I think we should all re-use the small cardboard trays that they now put plants on.  It would be easy to take them with you next time you go to buy a plant…….. just like taking your reusable bags!

As well as the Garden Centre, I also visited both the golf clubs in Banchory.  I hadn’t thought of approaching them before, but they are both now thinking about ways in which they can cut down/eliminate completely single-use plastic bags. 

I delivered the last of the invitations today to The Ashvale Takeaway and was informed that they were getting their own Go Green bags with THE ASHVALE on one side and DELICIOUS & NUTRITIOUS on the other.

You could have knocked me down with a feather!  Well done, The Ashvale! 

This gave me the courage to talk with the Manager of the Indian Restaurant, The Derbar, which I had been reluctant to do and, again, I came away walking on air.  Although they will not go as far as getting their own reusable bags, the Manager said he would be more than happy to put-up posters all around the restaurant.

That is great, as we have had an amazing response from the primary school children of the area and are being inundated with posters……… all incredibly good and all showing how much of the message the children have absorbed.

I spent Friday going around Banchory handing-out invitations to all the shopkeepers to join us for a glass of wine at our local art centre [Lang Byre at Woodend Barn] on Friday, May 30 to celebrate the opening of an exhibition of posters which the primary school children of the area have designed to support the Banchory bags Campaign. 

A local MSP, Maureen Watt, the Minister for Skills and Schools will formally open the exhibition and BbC intends to use the occasion to thank all our sponsors and the traders in the town for their support. 

Invitations have also been sent to our local MSP’s, MP and Councillors, all our sponsors, Heads of the various schools in the area and teachers, as well as the prize winners, their parents and siblings. 

An Aberdeen Art teacher will be judging the posters and, from those that I have already seen, I think he is going to have a very difficult task indeed.

Members of the BbC team are doing ‘follow-up’ visits to the shops around the town and The Shieling is the latest store to report that they have ceased ordering plastic bags.  Well done.

I heard this morning that the Cleaner, Greener, Banchory bags are on the ocean but not due to land in the UK until May 31 and we are not sure, at this stage, where they will do so.  It will probably take 4-6 days for them to be cleared by the authorities and then they have to get to Go Green, be sorted, and delivered from St. Andrew’s to  Banchory.

It makes our thoughts about commencing to hand them out on our joint promotion day with Waste Aware on June 7 rather unlikely.  However, we can still make good use of that day by stopping and talking with people around town and handing-out our bookmarks and, hopefully, the bags will be in Banchory in time to be given away at St. Ternan’s Fair, which looks as if it will be a very exciting event this year.

Cllr. Karen Clark [a member of BbC] and I had a meeting with Sean, the new manager of Somerfield in Banchory this afternoon. 

He told us that the Banchory store had already cut it’s usage of plastic bags by 20%, but he said that he was aiming to cut it further - hopefully to 60% - and we said we would do anything we could to help him achieve this.

He had recently been at a conference with other managers and said that he had heard of three Somerfield stores which had, or were trying, to become pbf.  He had talked with his Regional Manager, who was in favour of the endeavour, and Sean plans to talk with the Regional Manager for Durham [which is one of the stores attempting to go pbf] this week, and will report back to Karen and myself early next week.

Both Karen and I felt that the meeting had been very useful.

I spoke with the Iain Fergusson from the Co-op today and he tells me that after Banchory Co-op has its re-fit [in June I believe] from then on plastic bags will be kept under the counter - customers with just a couple of items will be expected to carry them in their arms;  customers with more shopping will be asked if they have their own bags;  if not, they will be offered a cotton bag for 99p;  if they refuse that, they can buy a ‘home compostable’ bag for 6p;  if all that fails, they can demand a plastic bag……. but they are hoping that shoppers will have given-in by then.

This should be a great example to the other shops in Banchory.  Well done, Co-op.

Last night, I received a very interesting message from the Co-op:

I am the Commercial Packaging Manager at the Co-operative Group.  Part of my job is looking after carrier bags, and the home-compostable bag that we have on trial in around 40 stores is my baby.  If you send me an e-mail with your phone number, we can have a chat about what we are doing and what we can do to help you.

We haven’t managed to talk yet, but…….. watch this space……..

Yesterday afternoon, Cllr Clark [one of the BbC team] and I had a meeting with three members of the Waste Aware Department of Aberdeenshire Council. 

They have offered to help us promote our campaign on June 7 by bringing the ‘Waste Aware Bus’ over to Banchory and they will spend the day telling anyone who is interested why it is so important that they get into the habit of using their reusable bags whenever they go shopping [as well as informing them about other aspects of waste disposal].

They have a lot of posters and pamphlets on the bus and were telling us how popular it was with the schools when they visit.

I just hope that we will have our ‘Cleaner, Greener, Banchory’ bags by then and can start handing them out on that day.  I am going ahead with plans to do so - getting a roster of volunteers to come along together with information to hand-out to those who need persuading - but it would be nice to know if we will have the bags!

I spent Monday afternoon going around and talking with some of the shopkeepers and thought I would report on the progress they were making……..good news and bad.
 
Sue Ryder - who were totally in favour of the campaign and the local manager running down stocks of plastic bags reports that one of their Managers has just re-ordered thousands of plastic bags for the Banchory shop!  I have had a lot of correspondence with SR so will be following this up.  Local manager doing everything she can to promote their reusable bags which are very varied and attractive.  [Following an email to SR, I have had an apology from them saying that they are fully in support of BbC and that the person who ordered these bags is no longer with them.]
 
Mitchells, a hardware shop, brought-up the suggestion that the Banchory Business Association get together and order bags at the last meeting of the Association, but it will not happen as they were the only ones apart from the committee at the meeting.
 
[I talked with the Chairman of the association on the 'phone and he confirmed that they could not help us, except to send out information to all their members.  He did say that he, personally, was in favour of what we were doing and said that he would source alternatives for the Inchmarlo Golf Shop - which he runs and he will happily put up posters, etc supporting BbC.]
 
Charles Michie Chemists staff tell me that at least 25% of customers bring their own bags.  Good work, but some way yet to go.
 
The Co-op Manager reports that all Co-op stores are going to move to having plastic bags kept where customers will have to ask for them [at some time in the future].  The Banchory store is to be re-fitted in June and we agreed that we could have a ‘mutually beneficial’ campaign - pushing their cotton bags, which would be kept in a prominent position in future, handing out our ‘hints’, and talking with folk.
 
WH Smith are getting their own cotton bags and will, likewise, be keeping plastic bags where customers have to ask for them.  The Manager says her order for plastic bags has reduced by 1/3rd.
 
Bentleys, a dress shop, staff are very keen on the pink Go Green Bag left with them earlier this month but haven’t had any feed-back from the owner.  They will follow this up for me.
 
Hay’s Florists will do a special floral display in June to support the campaign.

Red Cross complained that some of our ’supporters’ had been in and abused their staff.  I apologised profusely and said that I was sure that none of the BbC team would do that.

Cherubs, Baby Shop, ready to order some bags from Go Green.

This morning I heard the good news that our bags have been produced and are sitting in a container awaiting shipment.  The bad news was that there have been two serious typhoons in the area and all shipping has been disrupted.  The problem now, is that everyone is trying to get their various containers onto a limited number of ships.  Fingers still crossed that we will receive them in time for our launch in early June - but no guarantee, which makes it all a bit difficult to make all the necessary arrangements!

I came across two articles in the press this weekend that have made me pause for thought - ‘Sustainable‘ bio-plastic can damage the environment | Environment … in ‘The Guardian’ Weekend Edition, and  FT.com - Plastic: The elephant in the room in the Financial Times magazine.

The Guardian article concentrates on the fact that a recent study the paper did suggests that

The worldwide effort by supermarkets and industry to replace conventional oil-based plastic with eco-friendly “bioplastics” made from plants is causing environmental problems and consumer confusion…..

…..substitutes [to conventional plastic] can increase emissions of greenhouse gases on landfill sites, some need high temperatures to decompose and others cannot be recycled in Britain.

Many of the bioplastics are also contributing to the global food crisis…..

However, the article pointes out that;  ’the [biodegradable] industry says bioplastics make carbon savings of 30-80%.’

The article goes on to say that;  ‘In theory bioplastics are good.  But in practice there are lots of barriers.’

As campaigners, I believe that we have to acknowledge these issues.

The Financial Times talks about various forms of packaging and, in particular, plastic packaging and points out that

…acknowledging the good qualities in plastic packaging……. cannot be allowed to obscure two unavoidable truths:  our current, single-use relationship with plastic packaging cannot last;  and change, both in materials that we use and ways in which we consume, is going to come largely through the market.  So our behaviour matters…….

… - Mr Packaging - put the challenge another way.  “The amount of packaging we have is a reflection of the life we lead.  That’s the fundamental issue.  And if you want to make a change to that, then you can change your life habits and you can try and get other people to change theirs.  But I’m sorry, that ain’t going to happen.

I beg to differ.

The Banchory bags Campaign is not trying to tackle the whole problem of plastics and I certainly do not have an answer to the many questions these articles raise.  However, habits can be changed [drinking and driving/smoking in public places] and, if shoppers took their own reusable bags with them every time they shopped, we would significantly reduce the need for at least single-use plastic carrier bags.

It is worth remembering what the Financial Times points out:

If the rest of the world lived as Europe does, it would need three planets to sustain it.  To consume our rightful share of resources, we must think in terms of radical reductions.

I am sure that there are many people in the Banchory area who wholeheartedly support our campaign and who now always take their reusable bags with them when they go shopping. 

We now need some of these supporters to help us to win-over those shoppers who constantly forget to bring their own bags when they shop, and those who still do not own a reusable bag.

If you feel that you could spare a few hours to help during the second week of June, please add a comment to this blog and I will get back to you asap, or email me on christina.brown40@googlemail.com .

One of the Banchory bags Campaign team was recently in the South West and she especially made a visit to Modbury in order to see at first-hand what effect their campaign had had on the town.  This is what she reported back to the team:-

I thought you might be interested in what I saw in the S.West when we were down there recently.  Mainly it was a big plus especially about Modbury.  Being plastic bag free is really working there.   I was particularly impressed by the Co-op.   As I queued up I could see that they had no single use bags at the check out,  not even the Co-op degradable ones.   If you are stuck, you can buy a bio-degradable corn starch one for 5p or Modbury’s own eco one (£3.99 I think) and that’s it.  As you go into the shop, facing you is a display of bags- their own Co-op cotton ones, two Modbury bags and some turtle bags.  With this, are leaflets produced by the Co-op in support of the campaign .

That is truly wonderful.  All concerned must have worked very hard indeed to make their campaign so successful.

I am going to approach our Co-op to see if I can get them to be more proactive.  I know that the Manager is in favour of the campaign but so far all he has done is to put out stocks of their cotton bags [which have been very popular].  I believe that the store is to be refurbished in June, so perhaps that will provide us with a mutually beneficial  opportunity to address the issue of single-use plastic bags.

I have talked at length with the Promotions Manager at the Co-op Head Office and she tells me they are running trials in various areas at the moment, but it was impossible to include Banchory in those trials. Hopefully, the trials will be successful and Banchory will be able to participate in any future scheme.  She sent me a long email trying to reassure me that the Co-op degradable bags are not harmful, but I am not convinced. 

Personally, I would rather people used reusable bags.

Thankfully, I found that not all areas of the UK are littered with plastic rubbish dropped from cars.   In some, my husband and I could actually enjoy the wildflowers growing on the verges.  What a delight after all those miles of litter!  Let’s make all of the UK roadsides, countryside, towns and cities free from litter, and the easiest way to make a start is to make your village/town/suburb plastic bag free.

Go Green Bags were kind enough to mention our campaign here in Banchory on their website http://www.gogreenbags.com/  this month:-

One town in Aberdeenshire particularly made headlines with their campaign to become a ‘plastic bag free town’. Banchory, a beautiful town which sits on the banks of the River Dee have set up a campaign which was started and run by local resident, Christina Brown. Christina started her campaign in January this year, she has written weekly blogs about her ups and downs throughout the campaign, which you can read all about here.

The Banchory Bag Campaign has chosen Go Green Bags to produce their bag which they will be giving away to local residents of Banchory.  They’ve had a great response from sponsors who have helped to finance the bag and we’re sure that the bag will be a huge success.

There are many towns all over the UK who, like Banchory are setting a great example to the rest of the world. If you have an interest or know of someone who would like to start such a campaign to join other ‘plastic bag free’ towns, I’m sure Christina would be happy to help with advice on where to start. Go Green Bags are and will continue to be proud to support such great causes. Please contact us, we will help all we can.

There is a lot of support you can get, if you do decide to start a campaign, and don’t be put-off by the thought that you might not be 100% successful immediately.  Many so called ‘plastic bag free towns’ are still working towards that end and are just pleased to have made a start.

During the last few days my husband and I have been driving South through countryside that should be looking at its best with all the Spring flowers and trees coming into leaf.  However, what we have been looking at has been mile after mile of litter - mostly plastic. 

I am totally depressed and very annoyed.  Britain looks like a huge dump.  What has happened that people feel it is alright to just toss litter from their cars?

When I was growing-up in Australia [more years ago than I care to mention], the Australian countryside looked a little like this.  However, the Government introduced large fines and conducted a huge programme in the schools and the media to educate Australians to take their litter home with them and dispose of it there.

I know, this is not completely connected to the Banchory bags Campaign, but plastic bags were a large part of the roadside litter I have been looking at and I feel that we have to hope that more towns are inspired to try to go Plastic Bag Free.

I have also written to the Aberdeenshire Council telling them about the campaign and going on to say:-

As I understand it, when Tesco’s were talking with the Aberdeenshire Council recently they stressed the fact that if they were allowed to go ahead with building a supermarket in Banchory, it would be an ‘Eco-Store’; and that they would follow the procedure of keeping plastic bags under the counter, as they had done in North Berwick.

However, when I was talking with Jennifer Duncan, Tesco’s Corporate Affairs Manager, in the Douglas Arms in Banchory, she said that there had been no commitment to keeping plastic bags under the counter and that it had only been mentioned as something that they ‘might possibly do’.

As Conveynor of BbC I believe it would completely undermine our campaign if Tesco’s did not do its utmost to persuade customers to use reusable bags for their supermarket shopping and, I believe, that keeping single-use plastic carrier bags out-of-sight and making customers ask for them is the best way to do this.

I would, therefore, urge the Council to ensure that part of the conditions for allowing the development to go ahead is a written commitment to taking this action.

If any Banchory readers have similar concerns I ask them to contact the council in the next few days. It can be done on line by going to http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/contact/online.asp.

I had been very disappointed at the lack of progress Somerfield appeared to be making after the enthusiasm Nigel, the Manager, had expressed early in the campaign. All was made clear when I asked to speak with him again yesterday and was told that Nigel was no longer the Manager of the Banchory store.

Back to square one! Sean is now the Manager, so I spoke at some length with him. He seemed quite keen but did not seem to think that they were getting jute bags [as Nigel had indicated]. However, he said he would check this.

He also said that he would check to see if it was possible for them to offer a free ‘Bag for Life’ to every customer who brought 5 plastic carrier bags [from any store] into the supermarket, and to agree to replace the ‘Bag for Life’ when it was worn out.

I am not sure how enthusiatically he will follow this through, so I have written him a letter stating that without Somerfield’s positive assistance, the campaign will prove much harder to bring off.

I also pointed out that

As I am sure you would realise, the ‘Bags For Life’ [and/or the jute bags, if they are available] would need to be displayed in a prominent position on the check-out counter where customers could reach for them, instead of the single-use bags which are currently readily available.

In some Plastic Bag Free towns the supermarkets have placed single-use plastic carrier bags UNDER the counter and only give them away if customers ask for them. This initiative has proven most effective in these towns and might prove popular with Banchory shoppers as 98% of those we questioned said they would support Banchory becoming a Plastic Bag Free town.

Even if you are unable to offer ‘Bags For Life’ in exchange for single-use carrier bags, the BbC would very much appreciate your promoting the ‘Bags For Life’ with big posters around your store and, if possible, a banner outside the store saying that you are supporting the Banchory bags Campaign.

Today, Liz Forrester, the Go Green Bags representative and I did the rounds of all the Banchory shops who had expressed an interest in perhaps stocking reusable bags.  In the pouring rain, I might add, [liz without a raincoat and me with a broken umbrella!], we visited 22 shops together and Liz went on to visit another 3 after I had left her.

I think it was a very successful morning although only 3 shops actually bought boxes of bags [100 bags] at the time.  Most of the shops were extremely interested and Liz left them with sample bags and details of the Go Green website where they could confirm any of the information she had told them.  I am sure that many will get in touch with the company once they have had time to consider what and how many they require.  One shop, a newly opened bookshop, was very keen to have their own bag produced and others also expressed interest in possibly having their own bags made.

Banchory must be a ‘pink’ town, as 6 of the shops chose the pink sample bag out of the many varied colours Liz had with her.  However, two of those which bought bags chose mixed boxes of red/blue/green.  It will be interesting to go back in a few weeks’ time and see how they have gone.

Most rewarding, from my point of view, was a visit to the local toy shop which had been very keen to have bags, but they said that virtually nobody wanted bags these days [everybody bringing their own], so they had changed their minds.  A shame for Liz, but very good news for me.

When I got home, I had a very pleasant surprise.  One of the takeaway Fish & Chip shops had emailed in response to a letter I had written their Head Office in Aberdeen, asking where he could get bags.  He wants to suggest to customers that they bring back their bags on their weekly/daily visits to the shop.   Go Green bags would be ideal for this purpose as they are washable.   Unfortunately, Liz had left by this time to visit a local Farm Shop but I have put them in touch with one another and Liz will send him a sample bag, I am sure.

You might not have noticed in my blog yesterday that we had another sponsor.  Banchory Ternan Rotary Club members this week agreed to sponsor part of the exhibition we will be holding of the posters the local school children are producing in support of the campaign.   That is wonderful news.

I can now begin to plan the other costs that will be incurred by the campaign.

It really is difficult getting sponsorship and juggling the expenditure to match the income.  Having been married to a project engineer for over 40 years, I now have a much greater understanding of some of the stresses and strains he was under.

We finally have the bags in production.  What a relief after all these weeks/months of negotiation.  Life should be a lot easier now.

I am taking this opportunity to issue a press release to our local paper thanking all the many organisations, companies and individuals who have supported the campaign.

First of all, I acknowledged the great help Banchory & District Initiative [BDI] has given BbC, particularly, in keeping track of all the accounts.  I then went on to say:

Maersk Oil North Sea, Aberdeenshire Council, Banchory & District Round Table, Canadian Natural Resources, PGL/Senergy, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Keep Scotland Beautiful, North Banchory Company and Raeburn Christie Clerk & Wallace very generously agreed to sponsor the 2,000 “CLEANER, GREENER, BANCHORY” bags which the group plans to give away to Banchory shoppers in June.

“It was wonderful to have so many sponsors, but it was a struggle to fit all their logos onto the sides of the bag. Fortunately, a member of the Canadian Natural Resources environmental team happens to be a graphic designer, and BbC is sure that, once Banchory residents have seen the bags, they will agree that he did a brilliant job with the design.

“Many of you will have seen the BbC bookmarks with facts about plastic bags and hints on how to remember to bring your own bags with you when you go shopping. The library tells me that the bookmarks have been very popular and BbC would like to thank Paul Herrington and Mark Hope for designing and meeting the cost of the bookmarks.

 

“BbC would also like to thank the members of the Banchory Ternan Rotary Club for agreeing to help sponsor the ‘Bags for Banchory’ Exhibition of posters designed by children from all the schools in the area which will be held in Lang Byre, Woodend Barn from May 30 – June 1, 2008. We hope that as many of you as possible will visit this exhibition as the children have been very enthusiastic supporters of the campaign and BbC would like to thank them for their help.

“Finally, but certainly not least, BbC wants to say ‘thank you’ to all the shops and shoppers. If you walk down the High Street you see more and more shoppers carrying their own reusable bags and hear more and more of them replying, ‘No thank you’, when they are asked if they need a plastic carrier bag”.

The BbC team are delighted with the positive response there has been to all areas of the campaign.

Today, I have been trying to get the last of the promised sponsorship money into our ‘umbrella company’s’ bank account as we will shortly have to pay a deposit on the bags we have ordered.   These things all take time.   [I am still waiting to see the photograph of the 'mock-up' bag for final approval and was hoping that that would come through today but it looks like I will have to wait until tomorrow now.]

I nearly had heart-failure last night when the bag company sent me an invoice that was for very nearly twice the amount I was expecting!  I had a few very nasty moments wondering how I could have made such an awful error [and imagined having to rob my own bank account of several thousand pounds], before I calmed down and worked out that the mistake was from the bag company’s end, not mine.  Whew!  I still managed to have a pretty sleepless night until I received an amended invoice, with lots of apologies, this morning!

Since the beginning of March [it seems forever!], I have been struggling to get all the sponsors logos [10, in all, plus the logo for Banchory Development Initiative, our umbrella company] incorporated into the design of the bag………………and this was with the help of a Graphic Designer who happens to be a member of the environmental team of one of the sponsors.

I have just done a quick count and it looks as if over 150 emails have been exchanged with the various parties concerned. I don’t know if other groups have had similar experiences.

Unfortunately, some of the wording on the logos provided could not be screen-printed [which is the process used by Go Green Bags] and we have just had to do the best we could, given these circumstances.

Here is a sneak-preview of what the bags will look like. [I should have photos of a 'mock-up' bag very shortly and we will get a better idea then.]

The first photo is of the base and the design will be split in two, with one half showing on either side of the folded bag. [You will get a better idea when I put-up the photos of the 'mock-up' bag.] The other photos show the two sides of the bags.

I think they will certainly get noticed when shoppers start carrying them full of shopping on the streets of the town.

On Easter Sunday, I was invited to participate in an ‘Environmental Awareness’ display that the Birse & Feughside Parish Church was hosting after their Easter Service. 

It is a delightful little church, set deep in the Aberdeenshire countryside, and it was a surprise to find that between 80-100 parishoners were at the Service.  Several other organisations had set out displays and the parishoners showed a very keen interest in environmental issues. 

The Waste Aware Department of Aberdeenshire Council were giving away cloth bags and these were snapped-up within minutes.  I literally had to hang onto my own personal collection of bags which I had taken to liven-up the display! 

The parishoners particularly seemed to like the Go Green bags I had brought back from Australia some years ago [and have used ever since], so I am hopeful that the Go Green representative will get a good response when we visit early in April the seventeen traders in Banchory who indicated in our survey that they would be interested in stocking alternative bags.

Banchory bags Campaign has ordered their ‘CLEANER GREENER BANCHORY’ bags from Go Green, but more of that in another post.

On Tuesday, I sent a message to Mike Pringle [who introduced a bill into the Scottish Parliament in 2005 in regard to plastic carrier bags] which read

“I am wondering whether you have been able to reintroduce your bill regarding plastic bags into the Scottish Parliament? Surely, this is the time for Scotland to take a lead on this issue.”

I went on to tell him of the overwhelming support we were having from Members of Parliament, Councillors, shoppers and traders in Banchory. However, I also had to mention that a very few shops were not in favour of the campaign and others were waiting for instructions from Head Office and, although I had had positive responses from some Head Offices, I felt that it would take legislation from government for the others to react.

This is the reply I received:-

“I have now reintroduced my Bill into the Parliament & await the outcome of a hearing at committee. The Lib/Dem on the committee is your own MSP Mike Rumbles so I know I will get good support from him.

Mike Pringle

Thank you, Mike, and good luck.

THOSE OF YOU READING THIS WHO LIVE IN SCOTLAND SHOULD BE SENDING MESSAGES TO YOUR OWN MSP’S TO URGE THEM TO ADOPT AND HELP PASS MIKE’s BILL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Banchory Primary 2/3 children were the stars of The Press & Journal in yesterday’s paper.

Under the headings ‘Pupils’ Bags Sell Out Within An Hour’ and ‘Town on a Mission to Become First in North-East to be Free of Plastic Carriers’, the P&J reported how popular the school’s project to encourage the use of reusable bags is in the town. Ruth MacDonald, their teacher and the school’s eco-co-ordinator, said

“Because it came from the children, it’s had a huge impact on people. It’s not just an adult handing out a bag.”

And, when they visited STV’s North Tonight studios and were interviewed, they showed that they had a very good understanding of the effect plastic carrier bags are having on wildlife and the environment.

Yesterday afternoon, another team member and I had been busy conducting a small survey of parents at The Hill of Banchory Primary School as to their views regarding plastic shopping bags. Again, we were met with overwhelming support and, although 25% said that they did not presently own reusable carrier bags, all said that they would be using them in the future.

This week Tesco have been talking to the Aberdeenshire Council in regard to their wish to build a new store on the outer edge of Banchory and, this weekend, they held a consultative process with Banchory residents.

 I will leave aside the arguments for or against whether Banchory needs a new supermarket [at least, for the moment] and just concentrate on the issue of plastic bags.

In their presentation to Councillors, two of the local Councillors reported to me that Tesco had stressed the point that they would hide plastic carrier bags under the counter and only give them out when customers requested them - as they have done in North Berwick.  However, when I asked the Corporate Affairs Manager to confirm this, she said that: “No, she hadn’t stressed that point, and had only indicated the North Berwick action as an example of an action they might be able to take.”

I have since been lobbying the Councillors to incorporate this action into the conditions set for the development to go ahead.

 Tesco are stressing that the store will be an ‘Eco-Store’  and ‘one of the most advanced, low carbon Tesco stores to date’ and the fact that they will be using onsite renewables, dimmable electric lights, timber from sustainable forests, energy efficiency is good but in their literature they only say:

We encourage the re-use of our carrier bags by offering extra club card points and we’ve pledged to reduce packaging by 25%, by 2010.

I still believe the Council need to pin them down in writing to not having plastic carrier bags visible on the top of any of the check-outs in this store.

This term Banchory Primary School P2/3 pupils have helped the BbC campaign in a number of ways, one of which being to produce their own cotton bags, designed by one of the pupils, Frances Sealy, aged seven. All the pupils had a go at creating a design and members of staff chose the winning design.

WH Smith’s and The Banchory Farmers’ Market added their support for the campaign this morning by inviting the children to sell the bags in the store and the market place. Before the end of the morning, they had sold out.

The Primary 2/3 Class teacher and school eco co-ordinator, Ruth MacDonald, said:

“The children have been really excited about this project.  I now have parents coming into school telling me they’ve been told off for using plastic bags in the supermarket.  So, the message is clearly getting through.  We hope people will bin plastic bags altogether.”

The Government today threatened to impose legislation early next year forcing retailers to charge for plastic bags unless they make “sufficient progress on a voluntary basis” by the end of 2008. 

The Government said that it would start to consult on how the charge would work and how to ensure that any money raised from the levy goes to environmental charities.

On February 29, the Prime Minister wrote in the Daily Mail: “I have already made clear that over time we should aim to eliminate the single-use plastic bag altogether. 

“I want to make clear that if government compulsion is needed to make the change, we will take the necessary steps.”

The comments came a year after he secured agreement in February 2007 from some 20 companies, including the main supermarket chains, to reduce the environmental impact of their plastic bags by 25 percent by the end of 2008.  However, the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), tasked with making sure they stuck to their commitments, found only a reduction of 14 percent over the first 12 months.

“Given the damage that single-use bags inflict on the environment, the Government is committed to taking strong action,” said the Treasury.

 Unfortunately, we will have to wait to see what that ’strong action’ is, but maybe the Treasury threat of  ”change over yourselves or we’ll legislate”, will be enough to give a few more a shove.

Or, maybe, we [you] will just have to start more pbf campaigns!

BbC would like to say ‘THANK YOU’ to

Maersk Oil,

Aberdeenshire Council,

Banchory & Ternan Round Table,

Canadian Natural Resources,

PGL and Senergy,

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency,

Keep Scotland Beautiful,

North Banchory Company

and Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace

for their support for the campaign, and for their generous contributions towards the bags which BbC will be giving out to Banchory shoppers in June.

It has been a frantic time, trying to tie-up all the loose ends regarding the funding for the bags, the choice and design of the bags and, at the same time, collate the findings of our survey of the Banchory shops.

 At virtually every shop we were met with great enthusiasm from staff members.  Of the 70 shops surveyed only three are against the scheme.  Thirty-four are fully supportive.  Eleven are supportive but would like time to source alternatives, and the remaining sixteen either need instructions from Management at Head Office, or need time to consider the matter further. 

 This is very encouraging. 

Thirty eight of the shops are prepared to put up posters.  Others support the campaign but have a company policy of not displaying posters.

Sixteen of the shops could/or would not tell us how many plastic carrier bags they gave away each week [and some of those must give away a lot of bags] but, when I totalled up the numbers the other shops had given us, it came out to nearly 65,000 pw - which comes to OVER THREE MILLION a year in a small community of approximately 6,500.  That is THREE TIMES THE NATIONAL AVERAGE!

 However, ALL the shops said they had noticed a massive difference in the last few months, with more and more customers bringing their own bags with them.  WELL DONE BANCHORY SHOPPERS.

West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine MSP Mike Rumbles and MP Robert Smith have given their backing to the campaign to make Banchory the first town in North-east Scotland to go plastic bag free.

The parliamentarians joined me for a photograph taken in Banchory High Street last Friday, March 7 to lend their support.

In a Press Release, Mr Rumbles said:

“Christina and her colleagues have done a fantastic job in highlighting this important issue and I am very pleased to support the campaign. Choosing reusable bags is a small way in which everyone can do their bit to help the environment.”

Robert Smith added:

As conveynor for the campaign, I added:

More on the survey next time.

Yesterday, one of my colleagues visited Strachan Primary School and talked with the whole school during an assembly.  She was most impressed by the questions the children asked and has asked them to make posters for the exhibition at the end of May in our local art centre, Lang Byre at Woodend Barn.  We have decided to call the exhibition ‘Bring Your Bag’.  Two of the team will be talking with Durris Primary School next week, and that only leaves the Hill of Banchory Primary which we will visit in April. 

 I feel very strongly that we have to involve the younger generation in this campaign as it will be up to them to carry forward any work to put right the environmental damage previous generations to theirs have done.

 We were told yesterday that we had been awarded funding from the Marr Area Office…… but it has to be spent by the end of March;  so we now really have to get out skates on and make final decisions on the bags.  There is so much choice on the different websites, it is all a bit of a nightmare.  I am trying to involve our ‘major’ donors in the decision as much as I can as I would like them to be happy with the final outcome.

 I am really thrilled with the way this blog has worked out.  I have had over 600 people look at it and it has only been goiong a few weeks.  That makes the time and effort spent all worthwhile.  [A big 'thank you' to my son, Andrew, who edits pages for me from time to time and who helped me to set the blog up.]

Last week was frantically busy, but another member of the BbC team and I managed to visit Drumoak School on Wednesday afternoon and we talked with the whole school during their assembly.  It is only a small school, but the children were marvellous and I am sure they will produce some interesting art work for our posters and for the exhibition at the end of May.

Most of the time has been spent surveying the various shops around the town and I am just beginning to collate all our findings.  Everyone involved has found doing both the survey of the shoppers and the survey of the shops a very interesting experience.  So far, we only seem to have 3 shops totally against the idea, a few that need to be persuaded, a many who are supportive but are not sure if they could introduce the scheme, and a lot who are fully supportive.

 As well as doing all that, I am also chasing up potential sponsors.

It never stops!

In an article entitled ‘Stores get a year to ban bags’ Gordon Brown said:

“…… our aim as a country must be to elimiunate the single-use plastic bag altogether.

….. If we want others to change, we must make it easier for people to make the right choices.  That applies to individual things each of us do, and also what our firms and shops do.

So the Government is ready to do what it can to encourage a change in the way we use these bags.

…. I want to do what I can to reduce waste and improve our planet.

…..I am convinced that we need to act, and the time to act is now.

….. I am certain that in Britain we now have a groundswell of opinion that it is right to take decisive steps to protect the planet, to safeguard the beauty of our national world and ensure our country is indeed a green and pleasant land.”

There is also an online article and message from the PM in The Guardian. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/feb/29/greenpolitics.plasticbags

Please, send a message to No 10 [and to the Scottish and Welsh Parliamnents] to say you agree that action should be taken NOW.

A two page spread in the Feb 28 Daily Mail covered the pbf campaign in Dunoon.  Inspired by Modbury, organisers of the Dunoon initiative said that, ‘If they can do it, we can do it too’.  Campaigners in Dunoon hope that, as a result of their campaign, shoppers will become more environmentally responsible and, eventually, the idea will spread out to other places throughout Scotland.

I have to tell them [AND The Daily Mail], IT HAS.  Unfortunately, our campaign here in the North East of Scotland was not mentioned.  However, a walk down Banchory’s main street will also reveal that many local residents have already banished plastic bags.  A lot of shoppers here, too, have made a start and, like Dunoon, everyone is excited about what we can achieve.

I have just discovered that we actually HAVE made the Daily Mail online at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/text/print.html?in_article_id=523214&in_page_id=1770

For a second day running the Daily Mail ran their front page [and a further six (6) pages] under this heading. The major story was about Marks & Spencer deciding to charge for plastic carrier bags in their food departments. Sir Stuart Rose said:

“Of course we are not doing this out of the blue. We’re responding to what our customers have been telling us.” [We DO make a difference]

It’s time to break the carrier bag habit. It’s not difficult, it’s not painful, but it IS responsible. Let’d stop the talking and see some action.”

Two pages of photographs of litter around the UK followed, including one of beautiful Royal Deeside [our area, I'm afraid to say - not shown on the website].

What a week this has been. The Daily Mail has really done all PBF campaigns proud, but just in case some of you didn’t get past the stunning, but really shocking photographs [lion ©2006, Lauren Darcey/perlgurl.org.] and text of the first nine [yes, 9 pages] in the COMMENT column the editor said:

“…….. of all the threats to the Earth’s environment, none is easier to remove than this plague of plastic.

………This is ………. about changing mindsets so that all of us are prepared to make that small extra effort to bring our own bags along to the weekly shop.

Yes, there will be times when shoppers are caught unprepared - and we’ll curse having to pay a few pence extra to buy new bags.

But we are confident the great majority of our [Daily Mail] readers will agree that the time to Banish the Bags has come.

For any small sacrifice we have to make, it will be consolation enough that our streets, fields, parks seas, rivers and beaches will be cleaner for our grandchildren to enjoy.”

On the same page John Humphrys in a long article entitled ‘Alone, I can do nothing. But if all of us banish the bags, we’ll make a REAL difference’ ends by saying:

“In the end, this is about more than plastic bags - or tigers or ice caps. In some ways, they are the equivalent of the canary in the coalmine falling off its perch. If the miners fail to notice, they will pay the price.

But, just for a change, let’s take a more optimistic approach and give the final word to Shakespeare. In Julius Caesar, he wrote: “There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.”

If we can deal with the tide of plastic bags, who knows what else we can do.”

Thank you, Daily Mail and John Humphrys.

Great news that Markies [as it is called up here] is going to start introducing a 5p charge for plastic carrier bags at their food outlets. No wonder, when they give away nearly 500 million bags a year! When will they make the charge store wide? Look at http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/consumer/caring/article.htmlin_article_id=431313&in_page_id=511&ct=5&in_page_id=511

I do hope all you have gone online and signed the petition in yesterday’s Daily Mail http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=519829&in_page_id=1770

Let’s not forget, though, that it is up to the customer to make a change. Stores would not need to have plastic bags if customers did not want them.

Yesterday morning I had a delightful morning talking with the children at Crathes Primary School. They were very supportive and asked some interesting questions. I am hoping that they will produce some colourful artwork which can go up in various shops around Banchory and, if the art work on their walls is anything to go by, I needn’t worry. They should certainly be eye-catching.

In the evening I spoke with a group of Home Start volunteers in the Banchory area. They do wonderful work helping families with very young children and, again, were totally supportive of the Banchory bags Campaign.

Good news on the funding front, too. So far we have received sponsorship from the North Banchory