PRESS RELEASE – EMBARGO UNTIL 23 FEB 2009
LAUNCH OF HIGHBURY BARN PLASTIC BAG FREE
Sent by: new group Highbury Barn Plastic Bag Free
Contact/sender of press release: Nicola Baird 0779 2717140
Contact: Cinzia Sarigu 020 7359 1824 07519 576962
Highbury Barn is on the way to going plastic bag free. A-street survey in December found that eight out of 10 shoppers at the Barn wanted Highbury Barn to go plastic bag free. And now a small group of residents are working on a plan to make it happen. Full survey results are at http://plasticbagfreehighburybarn.blogspot.com/ (a bit lower)
It's not just that plastic bag litter makes Highbury Barn look tatty. Plastic bags – just like the ones we sometimes unthinkingly ask for in the shops - and then typically use just once, for that 15 minute stroll home - are piling up environmental problems all round the world.
LAUNCH OF HIGHBURY BARN PLASTIC BAG FREE
Sent by: new group Highbury Barn Plastic Bag Free
Contact/sender of press release: Nicola Baird 0779 2717140
Contact: Cinzia Sarigu 020 7359 1824 07519 576962
Highbury Barn is on the way to going plastic bag free. A-street survey in December found that eight out of 10 shoppers at the Barn wanted Highbury Barn to go plastic bag free. And now a small group of residents are working on a plan to make it happen. Full survey results are at http://plasticbagfreehighburybarn.blogspot.com/ (a bit lower)
It's not just that plastic bag litter makes Highbury Barn look tatty. Plastic bags – just like the ones we sometimes unthinkingly ask for in the shops - and then typically use just once, for that 15 minute stroll home - are piling up environmental problems all round the world.
Plastic bag litter is lethal. It kills hundreds of thousands of animals worldwide each year.
In London 1.6 billion plastic bags are handed out by shopkeepers each year (and just 0.05 are recycled). The rest end up in landfill...
Plastic bags are really tough. They can take up to 1,000 years to break down. But if they blow out of a landfill site they can choke many unlucky animals and birds to death over and over again.
Now local mums and others who love Highbury Barn’s unique shopping character – Caroline Bucknall, Cinzia Sarigu, Lulu Radinger, Caroline Russell and Nicola Baird plus Neil Devlin are putting on a screening of Message in the Waves, the brilliant film that launched the UK’s first plastic bag free town in Modbury, Devon.
Traders at the Barn have been invited to an exclusive preview on Wednesday 25 February. Any trader who can’t make it will be given a free DVD of the film or helped to find it at the group’s new website, www.highburybarnplasticbagfree.org.uk
“Going plastic bag free is the first step to reeducate ourselves in saving resources and taking care of our precious planet,” said Cinzia Sarigu who lives on Highbury Grove. “Although some people forget to bring out a bag when they pop to the shops, most of us try to bring a reusable bag or reuse a plastic bag. When we were doing the survey we found that nearly every one of the 100 people we asked said that they would be willing to pay a few pence for a biodegradable bag.”
“It’s such a small decision in your day just remembering to take a bag with you when you leave the house,” says Caroline Bucknall. “We know there are big problems in the world, but it’s good to be making changes to my daily habits that help me be the change I want to see.”
Yehia El Nemer at Oasis café in Highbury Fields said: “I don’t give out plastic bags, and when I go to a supermarket I take my bag. It’s such a waste. I support this idea 100 per cent.”
Families can come to a free screening of Message in the Waves on Sat 28 March at 3.30pm. This will be held at Christ Church. It’s a brilliant film, set in Hawaii that shows how plastic bags impact on the world. Expect to see great shots of surfing, playful dolphins, rock stars and baby albatrosses.
After the film take your cloth bag to the shops at Highbury Barn to buy something tasty for dinner.
You can add comments of support or suggestions about what next at the new blog http://highburybarnplasticbagfree.blogspot.com.
Last year Newington Green was the first area in Islington to become plastic bag free.
Notes
Highbury Barn traders have not yet been asked to support plastic bag free Highbury Barn campaign. The group of local campaigners want the traders to have all the info before they are asked to decide if they’d like to – or are able to - make their own stores/restaurants plastic bag free. Here are some notes if journalists wish to contact any traders.
The campaign has been given backing by local (highbury east) Lib Dem Councillor Terry Stacy. We hope many more local councillors will give their support. Our next step is to ask them.
Dates to follow:
This week – NEW website launched at www.plasticbagfree.org.uk
Tues 25 Feb – film for traders only, 6.15-8.30pm at Christ Church, Highbury Barn
Sat 28 Mar – free film for families, 3.30-5.30pm at Christ Church, Highbury Barn
Traders at the Barn have been invited to an exclusive preview on Wednesday 25 February. Any trader who can’t make it will be given a free DVD of the film or helped to find it at the group’s new website, www.highburybarnplasticbagfree.org.uk
“Going plastic bag free is the first step to reeducate ourselves in saving resources and taking care of our precious planet,” said Cinzia Sarigu who lives on Highbury Grove. “Although some people forget to bring out a bag when they pop to the shops, most of us try to bring a reusable bag or reuse a plastic bag. When we were doing the survey we found that nearly every one of the 100 people we asked said that they would be willing to pay a few pence for a biodegradable bag.”
“It’s such a small decision in your day just remembering to take a bag with you when you leave the house,” says Caroline Bucknall. “We know there are big problems in the world, but it’s good to be making changes to my daily habits that help me be the change I want to see.”
Yehia El Nemer at Oasis café in Highbury Fields said: “I don’t give out plastic bags, and when I go to a supermarket I take my bag. It’s such a waste. I support this idea 100 per cent.”
Families can come to a free screening of Message in the Waves on Sat 28 March at 3.30pm. This will be held at Christ Church. It’s a brilliant film, set in Hawaii that shows how plastic bags impact on the world. Expect to see great shots of surfing, playful dolphins, rock stars and baby albatrosses.
After the film take your cloth bag to the shops at Highbury Barn to buy something tasty for dinner.
You can add comments of support or suggestions about what next at the new blog http://highburybarnplasticbagfree.blogspot.com.
Last year Newington Green was the first area in Islington to become plastic bag free.
Notes
Highbury Barn traders have not yet been asked to support plastic bag free Highbury Barn campaign. The group of local campaigners want the traders to have all the info before they are asked to decide if they’d like to – or are able to - make their own stores/restaurants plastic bag free. Here are some notes if journalists wish to contact any traders.
The campaign has been given backing by local (highbury east) Lib Dem Councillor Terry Stacy. We hope many more local councillors will give their support. Our next step is to ask them.
Dates to follow:
This week – NEW website launched at www.plasticbagfree.org.uk
Tues 25 Feb – film for traders only, 6.15-8.30pm at Christ Church, Highbury Barn
Sat 28 Mar – free film for families, 3.30-5.30pm at Christ Church, Highbury Barn
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