Kew has got the attention of London's press, and so has Tesco...
Read the story in Evening Standard
Richmond-upon-Thames is Going Plastic-Free
Richmond traders and residents are campaigning to end the use of plastic bags for shopping in the borough.You Can Help
• Get a reusable shopping bag - you can buy one of the Greener Kew ones from a local trader if you need one• Express your support for the campaign to local traders
• Encourage traders who haven't pledged yet to take part
You can share your comments and ideas here on this blog - Keep it clean if not Green!
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Yew, trust the Standard to get it all wrong! I've left the following comment, hope to see it online soon:
ReplyDeleteHanding out plastic bags on request is not exactly "caving in" - it's hardly even the smallest common denominator. They are still handing out plastic bags. That's the bottom line and should hardly be applauded.
The Co-op in Modbury, the town in Devon that went plastic bag free last year, has fully supported the scheme by banning plastic bags from their shop in Modbury and even supplying local households with a free fairtrade cotton bag! They have also changed their plastic bags nation wide to a degradable variety (not quite compostable, but still better than those that stick around for 100s of years).
This shows that supermarkets can do better. Don't give Tesco credit where no credit is due please.
PS: Support your local second hand bookshop.
Like a number of Kew Society members I also left a comment on the Evening Standard's site and aren't too surprised to see none of them appearing.
ReplyDeleteIt's a better story for them to say that Tesco have done a "major turnaround" which we all know is simply not true.
All they've done is what they agreed to do for North Berwick when traders there undertook a similar venture, ie keep bags under the counter.
They did not agree to NOT ever give out free plastic bags, or to positively give out Kew's alternative cornstarch bag in place of plastic ones.
I can't remember my exact comment on the Evening Standard's site now but it's more or less what I just said and I added that we shouldn't really be making out Tesco to be the "good guys" in all of this.