Lead Authority: Southwark Council

Proposal theme: Environmental sustainability: Establish a national Plastic Bag Free day to coincide with the International event.

The proposal aims to build national support for a Plastic Bag Free day on which no plastic bags would be exchanged between retailer and customer. This would be held on the 12 September every year in order to coincide with the international Plastic Bag Free day held on that day. The international day is an annual event that is starting in 2009, and we would like to see national support in the UK commencing in 2010.

The support of the Government is needed in order to build awareness and educate people across the country about the environmental impact of plastic bags and to raise the profile of the work currently going on at a grassroots level.

With this additional support, the work going on at the grassroots level by local activists will be consolidated and built upon. The work carried out by SNUB in East Dulwich for example has not only had environmental benefits, but has also brought local traders together, heightened the sense of local community and led to other joint projects and initiatives, all of which contributes to the sustainability of the local area. This proposal is therefore about more than just plastic bags, and is in fact an opportunity to build community spirit and empower people to take control of issues that concern them locally.

The proposal also promotes sustainability by supporting waste minimisation. It supports Southwark Council’s existing Waste Minimisation Strategy which aims to reduce waste growth in the borough. We expect the proposal to reduce the amount of waste produced and encourage green behaviour within our borough, and across the country, by using the No Plastic Bag day to instigate behaviour change well beyond the day itself.

The proposal would obviously particularly affect retailers and consumers, and would require national legislation to establish a national no plastic bag day for the UK.