Look at these photos, never use a plastic bag again  and please sign the ban the bag petition for Huddersfield

www. trostomaten.googlepages.com/chickadult_plastic.JPG  

Click here for the Ban the Bag Petition http://www.gopetition.com/online/15845.html

Most plastic carrier bags are made from polyethylene, a kind of plastic. Polyethylene, or polythene as it is known in the UK comes in different forms. The top three used in bag manufacture are

High Density PolyEthylene – HDPE- is used to make supermarket type carrier bags. Other applications include Chemical drums, jerricans, carboys, toys, picnic ware, household and kitchenware, cable insulation

Low Density PolyEthylene – LDPE- used to make soft clear bags like the ones used for packing of vegetables, toys and clothes. It can also be used to make dispensing bottles, wash bottles, tubing, molded laboratory equipment. Corrosion-resistant work surfaces, Parts that need to be weldable and machinable, Parts that require flexibility, computer components, such as hard drives, screen cards and disk-drives

Biaxially Oriented polypropylene -BOPP- is the crisp crystal clear stuff used for greeting cards, the plastic wrapping round boxes of tea etc and food packs like pasta. Polypropylene or polypropene (PP) can be used to make ropes, thermal underwear, carpets, plastic parts and reusable containers of various types, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive components, and polymer banknotes. When polypropylene is biaxially oriented ( dont ask me), it becomes clear

Why Corn Starch – as taken from the Hebdon Bridge website

THEY ARE 100% COMPOSTABLE and BIODEGRADABLE. The marine biologists Modbury consulted believe these are the best product on the market at the moment.. if you know different – please let us know! Ultimately we want to find a different product than this because we don’t want a food crop to be grown to provide us with carriers ..so we are asking for your patience! We think we have found the best product on the market to date for our traders ..we shall keep you posted

Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce supports initiatives which will help to protect the environment, and we welcome your campaign to encourage traders in Marsh to offer biodegradable, fully compostable bags. This is an initiative which is fully in line with Government thinking, and the Prime Minister has recently given his support to the efforts being made to drastically reduce the usage of plastic bags throughout Great Britain. On behalf of the Chamber, may I wish your campaign in Marsh every success.Steven Leigh Senior Policy Adviser MYCCI

The bag free bag free group in Marsh are trying to promote plastic bag alternatives in and around Marsh. Our aim is not to replace plastic bags with another form of disposable bag . The best bag of all is the reusable bag… but … there are times when a bag is needed and shops will want to offer one. Shoppers on the other hand are becoming increasingly unhappy with plastic bags. So in addition to the free plastic bag we want to encourage traders to offer biodegradable, fully compostable bags.We are aware that these bags are more expensive than the free bags and that traders would probably have to sell them rather than give them away. However we feel that the kind of consumer who would want such a service would be prepared to pay a little for a much greener option.

However as small businesses understandably may not want to take that risk Marsh Forum will provide the first batch of biodegradable bags to the traders for free. We feel this would boost public awareness and stimulate a market.

Should the scheme be successful Bagfree08 (www.bagfree08.wordpress.com) and the Marsh Forum will also provide an ordering service through which a number of shops could buy as a group.

Though our group is limited to Marsh we are liaising with others.

Some traders have already expressed interest and we are in the process of contacting others.

Our aim is

- to contact shops by 30th March

- to give out bags to those who want them over the next two weeks to be ready for the 13th April bag free launch.

Kirklees Council want to make Kirklees a bag free area which is good news. The bad news is they don’t have the power to actually ban the bags. All they can do is say that bags are very bad things and promote voluntary individual action and ask people to stop using them.

Show your support by signing the online petition

click here to go to the on line petition

THERE IS A REAL LIFE PETITION AS WELL – i.e. one on paper . If you want a copy for all your friends, family and others to sign,  please leave a comment and your e mail address will be sent to Bagfree08 ( no one else will see it) and I will contact you

Kirklees council campaign to make Huddersfield plastic bags free is to be be launched  on Sunday 13th April at the Farmers Market.

There will be a stall there with staff who will help children to decorate a fabric reusable shopping  bag they can then take away with them… for free..

The disposable, plastic carrier bag problem is really grabbing the headlines. The problems, as everyone knows, are that petroleum based plastic bags consume huge amounts of oil, are difficult to dispose of, last for ever and create problematic pollution. And we use and discard up to 1 trillion bags globally a year.

But plastic bags can be recycled the cry goes up. Yes but that depends on people returning them. 1 in 200 bags actually get recycled which has very little impact on the problem.

Degradable plastic is apparently the answer to everlasting plastic rubbish. This is made from tiny particles of petroleum based plastic glued together with a chemical or plant based additive. The additive breaks down within a matter of months releasing the plastic particles. These bags still use oil in their production so bad – but dont last as long so better?

 Maybe – though the bag has disintegrated, the plastic particles are still there. And they are now small enough to enter the food chain and so into us. The long term effects of this are obviously not yet known – plastic hasnt been around that long – but early reports are not promising.

Of course carrier bags can be made from other things. There is the old fashioned paper bag made from trees, or the new bio plastic bag derived from plant starch. Made from renewable resources and fully compostable, these appear a greener option. But raw materials still have to be grown and harvested and turned into bags. In all, bio bags require a similar amount of energy to produce as plastic bags. Basically the production, consumption and disposal of a trillion disposable bags is not environmentally sustainable whether made from plastic, bioplastic or paper. Replacing plastic bags with “better” free disposable bags is not an option. Like it or not, we don’t need a new bag every time we go shopping and so the resources used making them are wasted. The only green bag to be seen with this Summer is a reusable one.

For information on plastic bag actions in Huddersfield go to www.bagfree08.wordpress.com

Things to knit out of old plastic bags

 Knit a bag http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_needle_arts/article/0,2025,DIY_13768_3059465,00.html
 

Or a 1950s dress

http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2007/08/plastic_bag_crafts.html

- or some sandals

http://www.pieandcoffee.org/2005/11/17/how-to-knit-a-plastic-bag/

Carrier bags made from old newspapers by street children in India are now being used in the Buddist Centre in Manchester in place of plastic bags. Customers are charged 10 pence a bag.

A good move and a noble bag –  thanks go to Linda this months clever bagger. 

To see the bags go to

www.theindiashop.co.uk

PRODUCE BAGS

There is now a uk supplier of cotton produce bags. These are from ecobags www.ecobags.com – another Amrican company. They supply unbleached cottonbags made in Idia usinf fiar wage fair trade. For more details visit their website.

They are being imported and sold in the Uk- mail order only – by Jill Sutton 01559 371546
Ty Coed,
Llandysul
Carmarthenshire
SA44 5UH

http://www.bagage-reusableshoppingbags.co.uk