Plastic is not so fantastic
Warwickshire County Council’s workers are turning their back on plastic bags with a new survey revealing that the vast majority now opt for the greener reusable option.
Almost 1,000 staff members responded to a recent poll of the county council’s intranet for staff, asking them ‘Is plastic your bag? How do you carry your shopping?’.
And the results have shown a dramatic shift in the shopping habits of staff compared to their answers to the same question a year ago.
The results were as follows:
2009 2008
Durable carriers and ‘bags for life’ 65% (647) 43% (318) +22%
Usually reuse old bags 17% (178) 17% (128) no change
Not as eco-friendly as I should be 17% (170) 39% (29) -22%
Total votes 995 736
Over the last 12 months the county council has backed and run various campaigns to urge people to give up the plastic bag, including support for the ‘Say No to Plastic Bags’ campaign in Rugby, which saw the town go carrier bag free for a week, and a ‘Man Bag’ campaign for council staff to urge more men to give up plastic bags in favour of a more sustainable option.
Cllr Martin Heatley, the county council’s Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “Plastic bags are a very visual symbol of waste, and by encouraging people to think more about this issue, we hope they will also start to think about many more environmental issues in their home and at work.
“I’m delighted to see the results of our own intranet poll, with almost 1,000 people responding and 65 per cent now regularly using their ‘bags for life’.”
For more information on reducing waste and living more sustainably visit http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/waste