Who We Are
CarryAbag are a team of local residents who support the campaign to stop using plastic carrier bags. We are working towards Chesham becoming a plastic bag free town.
The aim is quite simple but the effect on our environment will be enormous. Just take a look at our plastic fact file and you will get an idea.
All we are asking people to do is carry a bag when we go shopping. There are many alternative bags available but if you want to support our campaign, we have produced our own fair trade carrier bag made of recycled cotton.
We are very grateful to the sponsors who have helped us to get this far and will be happy to talk to anyone else who feels they would like to add their support both financially and actively. Please use our contact form to get in touch.
We have set out below the key milestones of our campaign so far and you can keep up with what we are doing in our blog.
What We Have Done
- Created this website!
- Carried out street surveys of shoppers in Chesham
- Visited/surveyed approx 30 independent/small chain retailers (ongoing)
- Written to ALL high street retailers informing them of our campaign
- Attended the Green Fair at the Town Hall
- Had a stand at the (very wet!) Victorian Evening
- Designed and produced 250 fairly traded, recycled cotton, PBFC branded shopping bags to sell to raise awareness
- Raised approx £850 in sponsorship. This has been generously donated by local businesses and individuals. Our funds are held by The Chesham Building Society.
- Gave a presentation to the Chesham Town Council (17.12.07) who have subsequently endorsed their support and have included our aims in the Environment Policy for Chesham
- Gave a presentation to the Chamber of Trade and Commerce (16.01.08)
- Held a free showing of the film Message in the Waves at the Town Hall followed by a discussion (13.02.08)
- Took part in the Fair Trade fortnight by raising awareness at Elgiva and being part of the panel after "An Inconvenient Truth"
- On April 3rd, we held a meeting for Chesham retailers to discuss the various solutions to switching to non-plastic bags. This meeting was supported by both Waitrose and Sainsbury's supermarkets as well as several independent retailers and chain store representatives.
- We have written to all the local schools to introduce the campaign
- We have started writing to the chain stores
- We have investigated the alternatives to plastic bags and proposed that corn starch be offered. This is bio-degradable and can be composted at home.
- We have designed a Chesham bag to be made of organic cotton. These will be available for the launch day.
What We Are Planning
- To continue to visit retailers to discuss the implication of going plastic bag free and hear their views (it’s taking a while as we are all working full time too!)
- To write to all residents of Chesham once there have been some decisions made, informing them of the PBFC campaign and encouraging them to carry their own shopping bags
- To contact all the local schools and work with the children to raise awareness of the environmental impact of plastic
- To encourage other community groups to get involved (Guides, Scouts, WI, etc.) possibly setting up a morsbags pod
For the cost of a few shopping bags we can remove a serious environmental problem … can we really afford not to?
CARRY A BAG
and say "NO" to
CARRIER BAGS
