PACT Petition to the House of Commons calling for bag levy in England
chriscant
group has been running a Plastic-Bag-Free Penrith campaign for a
while. After surveying shoppers last year and traders this year,
we're doing a Bag Swap and petition-sign this Saturday.
The petition asks for a levy on single use carrier bags in England.
We've worded the petition so that it can be presented to the House of
Commons. Our MP Rory Stewart has agreed to present it on our behalf.
So: please print it out, get signatures and return to me by the end of
November.
http://www.penrithact.org.uk/resources/PetitionSingleUseCarriers2010.pdf
http://www.penrithact.org.uk/
PS You can also buy our Transition Calendar for 2011 - available
shortly.
Thanks, Chris
Baglady of Kingston upon Thames
well? Try http://www.thepetitionsite.com/.
I'd gladly make links to it from our website, but have few
opportunities and not much time in the next month or so for getting
signatures on paper (without the added complication of feeling morally
obliged, when i do have time, to collect signatures for the Greener
Upon Thames petition - which isn't as clear or well focussed as yours,
and has only collected a few 100s of signatures in months and
months).
Well done
Marilyn
Greener Kingston
On Sep 28, 12:45 pm, chriscant <ch...@phdcc.com> wrote:
> Hello - the Penrith Transition Town group PACT Resources and Waste
> group has been running a Plastic-Bag-Free Penrith campaign for a
> while. After surveying shoppers last year and traders this year,
> we're doing a Bag Swap and petition-sign this Saturday.
>
> The petition asks for a levy on single use carrier bags in England.
> We've worded the petition so that it can be presented to the House of
> Commons. Our MP Rory Stewart has agreed to present it on our behalf.
> So: please print it out, get signatures and return to me by the end of
Chris Cant
The House of Commons cannot accept a petition with electronic
signatures, so we can't link a new online one with our current petition.
Although there have been other online petitions, it may worth trying
again. I'll try to find time to set it up soon.
The good news is that our Bag Swap and Petition Signing on 2/10 went
well, with all our cotton bags swapped away. We got 462 signatures
in 2 hours which I think is very impressive for here. (In our
successful survey last year we interviewed 334 shoppers.)
There has been coverage in some local paper, including these online links:
http://www.edenvalleymessenger.com/news/2010/october/pact-end-plastic-bags
http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk/news/green-group-pushes-for-switch-to-cotton-bags-1.761739
Some of my photos are here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29816&l=78c59f08cd&id=100000649264557
After having a bag off us, someone refused to sign the petition and
wrote to the local paper saying that polythene bags have their
uses. They thought that the petition was calling for a complete ban,
not just a charge. My reply to the paper is below.
Chris
Penrith
I hope Jeremy Godwin is able to make good use of his new PACT cotton
bag which he got in place of a plastic bag a fortnight ago. Although
it sounds like he does accept the case for reducing plastic bag use,
he seems to have got the wrong end of the stick: our petition only
calls for a charge on carrier bags not their abolition. So he could
buy a biodegradable bag for 10p or less - or perhaps get a bulk buy
for scooping poop.
PACT has previously conducted two surveys to give us a mandate for
action. Our survey of over 300 shoppers in July last year showed
that most people supported a complete ban or a charge, some wanted a
reduction, and a handful wanted no change. Our survey of 111 Penrith
traders earlier this year confirmed that they were on board with
almost all supporting a reduction campaign with many saying it would
be good for the image of the town - although many had valid concerns
on practical issues.
Waterproof bags are indeed useful but most plastic carrier bags are
only used for one trip before disposal. A reusable carrier bag does
the same task again and again without the risk of litter. For
smaller or messy jobs, waterproof biodegradable bags are available
which will break down completely in landfill or when composted.
We need to make sparing use of the resources left on this
earth. Apparently some landfill sites are already being mined in the
USA to recover plastic. Using fewer disposable bags is a good place
to start here; a charge on plastic bags in Eire resulted in a 95%
reduction in usage. Wales is introducing a 7p charge next spring.
With 462 shoppers signing our petition calling for a charge on single
use carrier bags, and lots of support from shoppers and traders, I
think we've a good case to reduce Penrith's litter and help the
environment. The House of Commons clerk has checked the wording and
our MP Rory Stewart has agreed to lodge it behind the Speaker's
chair. If we can persuade Jeremy, will that make it "official"?
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