Exhibition of alternatives to Plastic

January 11th & 12th 2008

30% of the marks for ‘in Bloom' competitions are for ‘Conservation and Recycling' and ‘Local Environmental Quality'. We feel very strongly about this, and every year we take the judges to the Recycling Centre, and organise litter picks. This year we felt we would like to do more for the environment and, after months of research, suggested that Upton should work towards becoming plastic bag free.

On January 11th & 12th we held an exhibition showing samples of alternatives to plastic bags & packaging. Worcester County Council & Malvern Hills District Council Waste Management Teams put on a display, and had reusable shopping bags to give away. Turtle Bags from Stourport, and Eco Bags from Sheffield brought displays of bags. We also had knitting patterns for string bags, and patterns for making bags out of material.

The exhibition attracted nearly 300 people. Upton MayorTim Perry, Town Councillors, Sir Michael Spicer MP, County Councillor Bob Bullock, District Councillors Mike Morgan & David Watkins, Harriett Baldwin and many local people all came to look at the samples & displays. Visitors also came from Colwall and Malvern (both interested in the concept of plastic bag free) and Worcester.

We had a video from the BBC Natural History Unit - 'Hawai'i - Message in the Waves', a PowerPoint presentation, and pictures of local litter and marine casualties resulting from ingestion of plastic.

Shopkeepers from Upton expressed support and took away contact details of suppliers. All of them were very happy to consider alternatives to plastic bags when the need to re-order bags arises, and most of them already ask shoppers if they have a bag before offering one. A lot of visitors came in with reusable bags (cotton & jute).

Feedback from the exhibition was very positive, and what came across is how much people are concerned about the effects of plastic in the environment.