Category Archive

 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.

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.

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.

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 Company, Raeburn Christie Clark & Wallace , PGL, The Mortgage + Property Centre, and Keep Scotland Beautiful. Thank you, to all of them. We are still waiting to hear from other potential sponsors and hope to do so very shortly.

Today’s issue of the Daily Mail has a NINE [9] PAGE SPREAD entitled ‘BANISH THE BAG’.

I urge you all to look at it. There are some excellent photographs of the damage plastic bags are doing to animals and to the countryside. There is also a coupon to cut out and send in as a petition to the UK government to register your concern about the environmental impact of the 13 billion plastic bags British retailers give to shoppers every year.And for those of you interested in having a glossy A1 wallchart you will find details of how to obtain this on the bottom of Page 50. I would highly recommend this for parents and schools as it is the younger generation that has to carry on the good work.

Banchory Library are very supportive of our scheme and are putting our bookmarks into every book lent by the library over the next few months. Bookmarks have also been taken to the schools and will be distributed there.

Sue Ryder Care has two different styles of jute bags with the Sue Ryder Care name printed on them, and have found they are selling more of these in recent weeks.

However, in one of the shops I was in today when I very politely queried whether a customer standing next to me really needed a plastic carrier bag , the customer said, in no uncertain terms:

“It’s too ******** late to save the planet.”

Oh, well - Ups and downs!

Ten shops surveyed today and only one definitely not in support of the campaign. The others will need some persuading if they are to be completely won over, although many said that they had been thinking of making changes.

GOOD NEWS, in that ALL of the shops remarked that more and more customers were bringing their own bags with them and refusing plastic bags.

Commenting on the interest generated by the campaign, Councillor Karen Clark says :

“There has been a lot of media attention focused on Banchory in the last week or two and it is really putting the town on the map. “

Three BbC volunteers did an initial survey of six of the local shops this week in order to make sure we were asking the right questions on our survey form.    Along with lots of explaination we are asking

• Have they heard of the campaign
• How many bags do they give away a week
• Would they consider supplying their own reusable bags
• Would they train their staff not to routinely offer plastic carrier bags to customers
• Would they like input from BbC volunteers with training
• Would they display a poster
• Would they object to being mentioned in publicity
• Any further questions/comments

One shop said that ‘NO’ they definitely would not support the scheme.  They have spent a lot of money on having their own plastic bags produced which were good advertising for their shop.  They had enough bags and plastic wrap for 3-4 yrs.

Another shop was completely the reverse, saying that they would never buy another plastic bag.  The other four were supportive, but had reservations - two saying that customers found the paper bags they used were not good in the rain.  All said that they had been looking into alternatives and that they had found the demand for plastic carrier bags had greatly reduced in the last six months.

As well as doing the survey on a one-to-one basis with the Manager/Owner we are leaving each shop with a list of possible suppliers of different types of reusable bags and a sheet giving them an idea of what the campaign is trying to achieve.

Next week we start surveying the rest of the shops and have to be prepared for several follow-up visits over the coming months. 

98% of the 362 Banchory shoppers that were surveyed in various locations around Banchory last week  were in favour of Banchory becoming a Plastic Bag Free town.  Nearly 1 in 3 of those questioned were men.  One in six did not possess a reusable bag, but those who did had roughly 4-5.  Over 100 of those questioned said that they always use their reusable bags.

I have received a few messages welcoming Banchory bags Campaign to the forum. This one from Bridgend and, in answer to their question, ‘Yes, we are on the MCS PBF list’.

“Welcome Christina to the PBF Google Group. It looks like you have a good thing going in Banchory - will you become the first Scottish community on the Marine Conservation Society PBF list? I hope you find the group to be helpful and informative. Enjoy! “

They have started a file of photographs of plastic bag litter around the UK, which they hope will be more relevant than those taken in Hawaii. They certainly are! 

Yesterday we were interviewed by The Green Diary. Pictured are Margaret, Alison and Karen posing for the photographer.

Wow! After just one week of encouraging Banchory residents to change to using reusable bags, look at the response we have got. WELL DONE, BANCHORY SHOPPERS.

We have had bookmarks printed which our local library and the book shop will put into every book; and the local Arts Centre, the traders at the market, and several stores will give out. As well as listing six facts about plastic, the bookmarks are printed with HINTS AND TIPS to try to help people to remember to take their reusable bags with them.

• Say “no thanks” to plastic bags
• Try to always carry a compact reusable bag with you
• Remember to take reusable bags with you on shopping trips
• If you forget - ask for a cardboard box
• When you’ve unpacked, leave them ready for their next job:
  • By the door
  • In your coat pocket
  • With your wallet and keys
• TAKE PRIDE IN A GOOD HABIT

We hope they help. So many people have bags but haven’t yet got into the habit of carrying them with them all the time.

BbC also hope that when you go into the Banchory shops you will TELL THEM you are supporting the campaign and that you DO NOT WANT them to routinely put shopping into plastic bags.

As I mentioned yesterday, our local MPs are supporting us, but it would also be a help if you sent an email to the Scottish Parliament telling them that you want them to take action on plastic bags.

More good news.  We have today received a letter of congratulation and support from our local MPs, Mike Rumbles MSP, and Sir Robert Smith, MP.  Their letter points out that Mike Pringle MSP introduced a Members Bill in the Scottish Parliament calling for a levy to be introduced on plastic bags, and said that that the Liberal Democrats are very supportive of initiatives such as ours.

 I have also had emails from Rebecca Hosking inviting me to join a nation-wide, on-line forum of the leaders of Plastic Bag Free groups which has been running for some time and which has been a means by which advice and support can be shared between different towns.  It is an excellent idea and I am more than happy to join.

Roz was on the High Street doing surveys yesterday.

I think our support is still extremely high which will be wonderful for when we start surveying the traders over the next two weeks. We have 73 shops in Banchory and many of them are parts of chains, so we may have some hard work ahead of us.

The secretary to Maureen Watt, the Minister for Schools in Scotland [who happens to live in Banchory], contacted me today to lend her support to the scheme which will be wonderful.

I think the Minister must have seen the campaign in the STV news report yesterday. We were featured in the morning, lunch and evening news. The report was well done and managed to cover the main points of why BbC had started the campaign as well as interviewing people on the street. No negative views!

Several UP days. Wonderful! And a bit of a ‘down’!

The article in the Press & Journal was followed by a longer article the next day which focused on the ‘wider’ picture and yesterday we featured on the front page of The Deeside Piper, our local paper.

Today the STV cameras caught up with us and interviewed a few traders [including our local Somerfield] and captured me surveying a few shoppers. They conducted a few interviews with shoppers and were trying hard to find someone who was against the campaign but I don’t think they found anyone. Hurrah!

The down.

I have spent the weekend thinking about the Action Plan scheme to sell the bags to local retailers and have decided that it would quickly become an administrative nightmare. I have spoken with all of the team and they agree. Therefore, we have decided that BbC will give away bags to the residents/shoppers of Banchory; just as all the other towns who have undertaken similar schemes have done.

The bags will have BANCHORY on one side and the names of our sponsors on the other [logos get complicated]. I think our sponsors will be happier with this arrangement.

Photographed are Margaret and Alison, two members of the team, surveying shoppers in the High Street this morning. It looks as if our shoppers definitely support the campaign.

I spoke to a local group called ‘Third Stage‘ this week. They were amazed and shocked at the numbers of plastic carrier bags given out. However, they saw some difficulties with doing without plastic bags and raised some important points.

• many of them live in flats and cannot compost their vegetable peelings, etc.
• they need plastic bags to put their rubbish in, but had limited budgets.

It is hard for people living in flats with no access to gardens with compost bins. However, I believe that there are organisations in Aberdeen, and even in parts of Banchory, who pick-up garden rubbish and compostable materials on a regular basis. I hope that this service will be expanded to cover the whole of Banchory very shortly.

If you buy/get biodegradable bags and sort your rubbish into

1. ‘CLEAN’ rubbish which can either go straight into your wheelie bin or into a seperate bin in your kitchen/bathroom/wherever. You can even use a bag in this seperate bin, but make sure you only empty the contents of the bag into the wheelie.
2. ‘DIRTY’ rubbish which goes into a biodegradable bag and, eventually, into your wheelie bin.

You will be amazed at how little ‘dirty’ rubbish you have, if you do this. [Most of our rubbish seems to be packaging and, of course, we should be complaining about how much of it there is.]

There’s my ‘lecture’ for the day.

Instead of repeating information that you can find on any number of websites, I will keep this blog as a diary of what the BbC does each day/week as this might be the greatest help to other campaigners. We have had a few ups and downs so far, but mostly ups.Three of us started thinking about this campaign just before Christmas and, as the other two are particularly busy people, I undertook to lead the initiative. Of course, I had no idea of what I had undertaken!

At the end of January our group had grown to 9 and we had a meeting to map out our ‘Way Forward’. It was decided that we would

• Get the support of Banchory Development Initiative, the Banchory Community Council and the Banchory Business Association………. [All replied that they are in support.]
• Survey 100 Banchory shoppers [next week] to ascertain their attitudes to plastic/reusable bags, and then
• survey the 73 shops in Banchory [end Feb] -hopefully being able to report that the vast majority of shoppers were in favour.
• Hand out BbC Bookmarks which give some facts on plastics on one side and hints for how to remember to use your reusable bags on the other.
• Get the support of local schools [spoken to 2 of the 3 in Banchory]. We are now promoting the campaign with other smaller schools in the area and have had a good response from them. Two talks in their Assemblies lined-up so we will get to involve the whole school.
• Give talks to as many groups as possible. [I am giving a talk to our 'Third Stage' group tomorrow and have 2 other talks lined-up so far.]
• Seek sponsorship from local groups to help fund the initial purchase of 1500 long-handled cotton and 1500 short-handled jute ‘Banchory’ bags. These bags will be sold to the smaller shopkeepers at a small discount with the proviso that they sell them to customers at a maximum price or give them away, as they wish. Monies raised would be used to purchase more bags when necessary. [We have written to 7 local groups so far and are hopeful that some of them will see their way forward to helping us shortly.]
• Send out a Press Release to the local papers [last Monday].

Well, today we have made page 3 of the Press & Journal and will feature in another article in the same paper tomorrow as well as having a report in The Deeside Piper. It is all happening. Definitely an ‘up’ day.

Earlier this year Modbury in Devon banned plastic bags in their village and numerous towns and villages and cities around the UK are following suit.  However, as far as I know, no town in North East Scotland has taken this step and I would like Banchory to be the first to do so.

I have lived in Banchory now for 12 years and think it is a lovely village in a picturesque setting.  However, I sometimes find plastic bags littering the lane I live on, the woods I walk through and the river bank that is the heart of the town.  They can last for hundreds of years and damage the environment even when they are disposed in landfill.   I believe that I am not alone in thinking that it is time to take action and ban plastic bags from our beautiful town.

In June 2007, Modbury, a town in Devon, was the first town in the UK to go plastic bag free and, since then, over 80 towns, including Selkirk and North Berwick, are planning to follow. If the group’s aims succeed, Banchory could be the first ‘town’ in North East Scotland to become plastic bag free. Several countries which have decided to ban or discourage the use of plastic bags include: Australia, Bangladesh, Ireland, Italy, Taiwan, Mumbai, France, West Bengal, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Switzerland, Rwanda, Denmark, Germany, South Africa, California, Somalia, Botswana, Philippines, New Zealand, AND NOW CHINA!

The “Banchory bags Campaign” (BbC) group, recently formed under the umbrella of Banchory & District Initiative Limited (BDI), believe that, although it may be only a small step towards helping our environment, removing plastic bags from the local shopping scene is a step that we can all take. BbC has already enlisted the help of local schools and has obtained the support of the largest local supermarket, Somerfield, and also of the Co-op. BbC will conduct surveys of Banchory shoppers and traders over the next few weeks. If Bbc finds (as expected from informal soundings) that the community is behind the campaign, it is aiming for Banchory to be plastic bag free starting from 16 June 2008 - after St. Ternan’s Fair.

Bookmarks setting out ‘Hints’ to help shoppers to say, ‘No Thanks’ to plastic bags and listing a few facts about plastic will be given out over the coming weeks.

BbC is currently seeking funding for the project from a variety of local and national sources.

It is up to the shoppers in Banchory to make this work. There has been a lot of discussion in the media about how to reduce the use of plastic bags and the litter they make. Some people think the government should be doing more, or that supermarkets should take the initiative. It is easy to forget that plastic bags are only a problem because people insist on using them. Just one cloth bag can replace at least 1000 plastic bags over its lifetime. It would be easy to make a big difference in Banchory.

Plastic carrier bags are the icon of our unsustainable lifestyles and removing plastic bags from our lives will not make us sustainable or stop global warming. However,  hopefully it will make us all stop and think about the bigger picture. We can all actually do without plastic bags. We can take old bags into the supermarket and reuse them or, better still, take our own reusable, environmentally friendly bags with us whenever we go shopping