[THS] How to make your town plastic-free

[The Harder Stuff in news and commentary]

http://www.theecologist.org/investigations/waste_and_recycling/269782/how_to_make_your_town_plasticfree.html

How to make your town plastic-free

Sylvia Rowley

15th April, 2009
Sylvia Rowley examines Rebecca Hosking's tips to rid your town of plastic bags

Modbury was the first town in Europe to turn its back on polythene bags, in May
2007, but since then inspired individuals up and down the country have followed
Hosking’s lead, convincing their neighbours to kick the plastic habit.

Based on her experiences, Hosking, a wildlife-documentary-maker, along with six
other campaigners from North Berwick, Brighton, London and elsewhere, wrote Ban
the Plastic Bag: A Community Action Plan.

Here, Sylvia Rowley digests their advice on how to rid your town of the plastic-bag
plague

1 ‘Why?’ before ‘how?’

Why should your town go plastic-bag-free? British shoppers use more than 17 billion
plastic bags per year – the equivalent of 350 for every adult. We use each one on
average for only 12 minutes before throwing it away. As Hosking says, however,
there is no ‘away’. Plastic bags are destined for landfill almost as soon as they are
created, and add to the 2.8 million tonne mound of plastic waste produced in the UK
every year. Some ends up in the sea, with every square mile of ocean now
containing an average of 46,000 pieces of plastic, which choke and entangle sea
birds and mammals. What’s more, plastic bags do not biodegrade; instead they
eventually break down into smaller and smaller bits, contaminating soil, waterways
and oceans, and entering the food chain when eaten by animals.

2 Know your stuff

‘Knowledge was the most powerful tool I had in changing opinions,’ says Hosking.
You need to be able to give informed answers to the questions of traders and
shoppers, the first of which is bound to be, ‘what’s wrong with plastic bags?’ Learn
about the impact they have on the environment, and about the broader issues such
as landfill and unsustainable lifestyles.

Facts and films documenting the damage caused by plastic can be found at
www.plasticbagfree.com. Have other success stories to hand: in Ireland there has
been a massive (97.5 per cent) reduction in the number of plastic bags given out
since shops started charging for them.

Keep up with other plastic bag campaigns by signing up for Google news alerts on
‘plastic bags’ and joining the plastic-bag-free Google group at
http://groups.google.com/group/plasticbagfree

3 The bags: if not plastic then what?

The ideal is to get people to use a reusable bag made from natural, compostable
materials. An average cloth bag will save the owner from using at least 1,000 plastic
bags. You will also need to find alternative disposable bags for shops to stock while
people get into the habit of bringing their own bag, however, and for when they
forget. Cornstarch and paper are both used in Modbury, but there are many options.
Charging for bags will discourage people from using disposable bags and mean that
traders can cover the extra cost of the nonplastic bags, which are more expensive.

A word of caution from Hosking – beware greenwash in the world of ‘eco-bags’.
What you save the environment in plastic pollution you might unwittingly substitute
with species destruction or human rights violations. See www.plasticbagfree.com for
bag options and a list of recommended wholesalers.

4 Communicating

You need a core team, including traders, prepared to do much of the legwork and
willing to work together for at least a couple years. This group will have to try to get
the message out to everybody else!

Tips from Hosking and the others include starting a website, keeping the local press
up to date and involving as many existing groups as possible. Making postcards and
posters to display in shops, and tying in your campaign with other local events such
as festivals can also work well.

Chloë Hanks from Brighton says ‘design and professionalism are crucial’. Having a
brand or logo and repeating this across all of your materials including bags is a
‘simple way of sending out a strong and coherent message’.

5 Getting support – free wine helps

‘It’s crucial to get all or at least the majority of traders involved,’ says Hosking. If you
live in a large city, start with a smaller area such as a street or borough. An initial
meeting to get public support behind you is important. In Modbury, an art gallery
donated space and free wine for Hosking’s first meeting, and a local pub supplied
free finger food. She showed her film Message in the Waves, about marine plastic
pollution in Hawaii (www.messageinthewaves.com), provided guests with a booklet
on why they should stop using plastic bags, and had examples of alternative bags for
people to look at. At the end of the night guests voted a resounding ‘yes’ to
supporting the campaign. A plastic-bag committee was formed and a launch date
set.

6 Big supermarkets

Handling supermarkets and highstreet chains is one of the biggest difficulties for a
community going plasticbag-free. Often chain stores need permission from head
office, or even for company policy to change before they can act. Contact the area
manager of your local supermarkets and other chains right at the beginning of your
campaign to inform them of your plan; if they are unresponsive try head office.

Proof of community support can strengthen your case. A survey in North Berwick,
which showed that 98 per cent of respondents agreed that shops should cease
providing plastic bags, persuaded Tesco in Scotland to withdraw bags from its North
Berwick store.

7 How will I fund it?

‘There is no reason why start-up costs should be prohibitive; you just need to work
with what you have,’ Hosking says. In Modbury, the start-up costs were kept very low
and covered by the traders themselves, who each paid £50 towards bag design,
posters and setting up the website. The different campaigns around the UK have
found various sources of cash, so look around to see who will support you. Friends of
the Earth, local councils and community councils, local chambers of commerce, co-
ops and recycling charities have all provided funding for plastic-bag-free campaigns.

8 The launch

To get the media and residents interested, start your campaign with a bang. In
Hebden Bridge, campaigners set themselves a target of getting 80 per cent of shops
to remove plastic bags on the launch day. Good PR is essential and a handout of at
least one cloth bag per household is also a great idea if you can afford it – ‘people
love freebies,’ says Hosking. For brightly coloured bags made from scrap material at
no charge, see www.morsbags.com

9 What next?

Keeping up the momentum with monthly information days and anniversary
celebrations is important, but why not think bigger? As Hosking emphasises, plastic
bags are only the tip of the iceberg of global environment problems. She says her
campaign woke up her community to environmental issues, and many traders have
now gone beyond thinking about plastic bags, cutting down drastically on packaging
and looking into getting rid of plastic water bottles too. Once you’ve created a
community that cares about the environment, you have something powerful in your
hands – see what else you can do.

Ban the Plastic Bag: A Community Action Plan by Rebecca Hosking et al (Alastair
Sawday Publishing, £4.99)

Sylvia Rowley is a freelance journalist

This article first appeared in the Ecologist April 2009