York village ‘bans’ plastic bags
8:08am Friday 16th May 2008
A VILLAGE near York could become the first community in the area to become a plastic bag free zone.
City of York Council's waste strategy unit has been working with green-minded residents in Copmanthorpe to help them in their bid to free their village of plastic bags.
Known as the Bring Your Bag Group, members officially launched their ambitious project at the May Day Fair, in Copmanthorpe.
The group also took the opportunity to encourage children from the village to enter a competition to create a design that will appear on the front of sustainable cotton bags.
These bags will be supplied to every household in Copmanthorpe free of charge to raise awareness and encourage support for their idea.
It is hoped the bags will be ready and available for distribution at Copmanthorpe Carnival in July.
The group is also going to work with local shopkeepers to help make the idea of a plastic bag-free Copmanthorpe a reality.
Derek Bowen, chairman of Copmanthorpe Parish Council, said the group had taken up the challenge and he urged other people to support their efforts. "It is a realistic goal in the sense that, I think I'm right in saying, most of the shops in Copmanthorpe would be prepared not to use plastic bags. I think it is achievable although plastic bags are not the problem, it's what people do with them. There will be those who don't necessarily agree with it but the general opinion is in support."
Rachel Buxton, of the council's waste strategy unit, said: "We are delighted that residents of Copmanthorpe have chosen to take a stance on this issue and are hoping that everyone within the community will support the idea.
"We are also hoping that other communities in and around the York area will follow their lead."
Green Coun Dave Taylor said: "I wish them every success. I think it is possible to do this in a shopping area where you have essentially local shops. For the whole of York to do it might be more difficult because you get all the national chains saying they are not prepared to play ball."
However, he said: "The whole plastic bag crusade is valuable in that it raises awareness of the issue of the wastage of oil being used to make plastics and then discarded. But it is not going to save the planet. There are much bigger and more important things we can do."