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| Charlotte Booth, Suzanne Johns and Verity Hudson in their giant Bag for Life |
It could accommodate your weekly shop several times over. As bags go, it's a giant. Big enough, in fact, for the people behind its creation to step inside.
Suzanne Johns, Verity Hudson and Charlotte Booth are the faces behind the mammoth bag for life'.
The trio, from Approach PR, based in the Design Exchange, Little Germany, had the brainwave of making the outsize shopper to kick off their campaign to rid Bradford of plastic bags.
Their move was fuelled by Verity's "passion for all things environmentally-friendly."
"I'm very conscious of what is happening in the world around me," she says. "I feel the environment is being adversely affected by the unnecessary use of plastic carrier bags - they are unnecessary and it is so easy to change by simply not using them as part of your daily routine."
She adds: "So I'm following the example set by residents and traders in Hebden Bridge and fighting for change on our doorstep.
After a campaign by residents, the Calder Valley town of Hebden Bridge is now Europe's largest bag-free zone after traders agreed not to stock plastic bags.
Verity began a personal crusade, starting with her local shop, the Co-op in Farsley. "By joining the Co-op, for £1 you can express your views as a member, and gain from the company's annual profit share."
She is also contacting local newspapers, and using an online petition, to encourage people to make more informed choices about using plastic bags.
"Encouraging local businesses to find the best solution for them to combat the habit does not have to mean a full ban," she says. "It could be that they encourage the re-use of plastic bags, or charge for them."
Inexpensive alternatives, suggests Verity, include plant starch-based carrier bags, which cost around 5p, Fair Trade cotton bags at 99p, and the 10p bag for life which has been a fixture at supermarket checkouts for a long time already.
"People say they don't have an alternative, but they will find that alternative bags are more useful than plastic ones as they are larger, can be slung over the shoulder, and come in a range of beautiful designs and colours. A fabric bag means you can shop while making a fashion and environmental statement," says Verity.
The head-turning bag which is to play a key role in Approach PR's district-wide campaign was made by Wyke-based bag maker and textile designer Val Gilpin.
Measuring two metres by one metre, it is made from hessian with a cotton lining and bears the slogan Don't Get Carried Away'.
"We want people to stop for a moment and think before they go out, and get into a routine where they take shopping bags along with them," says Approach managing director Suzanne.
Informal straw polls by the women found that many people who bought fabric bags, stuck them in a cupboard and forgot to take them out when they next went shopping.
Yet many are made from easily-folded cotton, and can be placed in a corner of your handbag. "There is also littering to consider. Bags are everywhere - at the roadside, in hedgerows and trees. Cutting down on bags would save a great deal in clean-up costs."
Encouraging children to use alternatives will also help to make plastic bags a thing of the past, says mother-of-two Suzanne. "Parents should lead by example."
Charlotte has for a long time used a bag for life'. "I can get so much more in them, plus they are a lot stronger than standard plastic bags," she says. "Once you start using them, you automatically grab one when you go shopping."
Suzanne, Verity and Charlotte plan to bring out the bag at different locations, to get their message across. "Verity kick-started it, but we have all bought into it," says Suzanne.
Verity has put forward a number of tips to help anyone who wants to become a barrier to the carrier'.
These include thinking ahead, so you don't forget to take your own shopping bags with you, buying a fabric bag, and supporting local and national campaigns.
Local efforts include a bid to ban plastic bags from the World Heritage Site of Saltaire.
The move is being fronted by Green Party councillor Kevin Warnes, who, like Verity, wants to follow in the footsteps of Hebden Bridge.
Approach PR tel: (01274) 722552 approachpr.com Verity's online campaign can be seen at petitions.com/petition/freefarsley
8:23am Wednesday 16th April 2008
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