Have a green Christmas

Achaleven Primary School in Connel, Argyll, have been promoting green, sustainable, package and rubbish-reduced living.

Last Tuesday, 24 November, the school put on a coffee evening themed Have a green Christmas.

The children sold eco-friendly bags and cards as well as gifts to promote their eco work. Head Teacher Sharon Burt and her team put on a fantastic spread of baking; there were also a lucky dip and a raffle with great prizes.

Despite really horrible weather, the room was packed with parents and friends.

All money raised will be put towards further developing the school's garden.

(© Photo: Caroline Askew, The GRAB Trust)

Sustainable Oban / Oban Plastic Bag Free! were happy to be present with displays promoting the two organisations. Thank you for your hospitality, Achaleven.

Our Petition to the Scottish Government: Ban plastic carrier bags throughout Scotland...

Dear All

At long last our Petition has gone out to the Scottish Government. Oban Plastic Bag Free! sent 87 signatures to Mr Jim Mather, MSP for Argyll & Bute and Minister for Enterprise, Energy & Tourism, with the following covering letter, demanding the ban of plastic carrier bags throughout Scotland and serious action against plastic packaging in general:

17th November 2009

Mr Jim Mather MSP for Argyll & Bute
Minister for Enterprise, Energy & Tourism
31, Combie Street
Oban, Argyll, PA34 5HS

Petition to the Scottish Government to ban plastic carrier bags in Scotland and take serious action against plastic packaging in general

Dear Mr Mather

As Minister for Enterprise, Energy & Tourism it must matter to you that our environment be as clean and healthy as possible. Plastic bags and plastic waste are a blight on our environment. Small plastic particles attract toxins and enter the food chain via marine and land-based creatures. It was recently reported "that human hormone-mimicking phthalates commonly found in PVC plastics would appear to alter the brains of baby boys making them 'more feminine'"; they are known to have a serious impact on male fertility.
In view of your past positive responses to messages from Sustainable Oban and the Oban Plastic Bag Free! Initiative, I am taking the liberty of passing on to you a total of 87 signatures to a Petition to the Scottish Government to ban plastic carrier bags in Scotland and take serious action against plastic packaging in general.
We will appreciate it if you will kindly forward this petition to the Scottish Government in Edinburgh. We will appreciate it even more if you will defend this petition and help us push it through into legislation.
With many thanks and best wishes
[signature]
Margaret Powell-Joss
[co-initiator of OPBF! and Secretary, Sustainable Oban]

Enclosures

Copy to The Editor, The Oban Times, Oban

*) International Journal of Andrology, quoted in
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8361863.stm, see also http://obanplasticbagfree.blogspot.com/

Of course now we look forward to getting results.

The Story of Stuff -- Sunday, 29th November 2009, Benderloch, Argyll, Scotland

Dear All

On Sunday, 29th November, 2009, an extremely instructive and entertaining cartoon documentary will be shown at 7pm at the Victory Hall in Benderloch, Argyll.
Admission free -- donations welcome.

The Story of Stuff

What it's about:
"From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever." (from the Story of Stuff website)

Following on to watching this short video together, we will have a discussion and a "freecycle"-inspired STUFF SWAP. So, please bring something that you've long been wanting to get rid of and swap it for something someone else may bring and that you would like to have.

Mairi Stones and friends, as well as Sustainable Oban, look forward to seeing you there.

Let's get rid of plastic -- it's toxic in many ways

Dear all

The showing of a documentary at Benderloch's Victory Hall yesterday evening once again underscored our extreme dependency on oil for everything - from fuel to petrol to plastic to cosmetics and much, much more. We need to get rid of plastic. It is not only a blight on our landscapes and endangers sea-dwelling creatures, it has also slowly been poisoning the food chain and the human body.

Quite by chance I just found more evidence for the latter. Read the following article, which underscores how little we know about the effects of the oil-based synthetics we have been producing and using for the past approximately 60 years. It would appear that phthalates cause disruption of male reproductive health and affect male behaviour. We are constantly exposed to these chemicals through our use of plastic.

Let's get rid of plastic, or at least reduce our use.

Toxins in plastic 'feminise boys'

Chemicals in plastics alter the brains of baby boys making them "more feminine", say US researchers.

[Page last updated at 10:23 GMT, Monday, 16 November 2009]

Males exposed to high doses in the womb went on to be less likely to play with boys' toys like cars or to join in rough and tumble games, they found.

The University of Rochester team's latest work adds to concerns about the safety of phthalates, found in vinyl flooring and PVC shower curtains. The findings are reported in the International Journal of Andrology.

Plastic furniture

Phthalates have the ability to disrupt hormones, and have been banned in toys in the EU for some years. However, they are still widely used in many different household items, including plastic furniture and packaging.

There are many different types and some mimic the female hormone oestrogen.

The feminising capacity of phthalates makes them true 'gender benders' E. Salter-Green, director of CHEM Trust

The same researchers have already shown that this can mean boys are born with genital abnormalities.

Now they say certain phthalates also impact on the developing brain, by knocking out the action of the male hormone testosterone.

Dr Shanna Swan and her team tested urine samples from mothers over midway through pregnancy for traces of phthalates. The women, who gave birth to 74 boys and 71 girls, were followed up when their children were aged four to seven and asked about the toys the youngsters played with and the games they enjoyed.

Girls' play

They found that two phthalates DEHP and DBP can affect play behaviour. Boys exposed to high levels of these in the womb were less likely than other boys to play with cars, trains and guns or engage in "rougher" games like playfighting.

Elizabeth Salter-Green, director of the chemicals campaign group CHEM Trust, said the results were worrying.
"We now know that phthalates, to which we are all constantly exposed, are extremely worrying from a health perspective, leading to disruption of male reproduction health and, it appears, male behaviour too. This feminising capacity of phthalates makes them true 'gender benders'."

[Elizabeth Salter-Green] acknowledged that the boys who have been studied were still young, but she said reduced masculine play at this age might lead to other feminised developments in later life.

But Tim Edgar, of the European Council for Plasticisers and Intermediates, said: "We need to get some scientific experts to look at this study in more detail before we can make a proper judgement."
He said there were many different phthalates in use and the study concerned two of the less commonly used types that were on the EU candidate list as potentially hazardous and needing authorisation for use.

DBP has been banned from use in cosmetics, such as nail varnish, since 2005 in the EU.

PHTHALATES
There are many different types.
The most commonly used are deemed entirely safe by regulators [MPJs emphasis].
[Potentially hazardous phthalates needing authorisation for use:]
DEHP - used to make PVC soft and pliable and used in products like flooring
DBP - used as a plasticiser in glues, dyes and textiles

For the original article, please go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8361863.stm

*****

My own two cents, to be taken with a pinch of salt:
The world might be a better place if males were a bit more feminised and less testosterone were coursing through their veins...

Plastic litter on UK beaches

Dear all

44.30 minutes into Autumnwatch 2009, Episode 7, Chris Packham and Kate Humble confirm what Oban Plastic Bag Free! have been clamouring for: abolish plastic bags, and significantly reduce the use of plastic in general.

Chris Packham: "We think that 100,000 mammals die every year because they are ensnared by pieces of plastic. And those are just those the ones we find on the beach. Imagine how many more there are out at sea!"

It is said that the average fulmar has got 30 pieces of plastic inside it.

Kate Humble: "As plastic breaks down it becomes the size of plankton and enters the food chain."

To watch the programme, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ny9ct – you have 13 days left to watch, i.e. approx. until 26 November 2009.

The Marine and Coastal Access Act

Dear all

As you may have heard, the new Marine Bill was very recently given Royal assent and became the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act. It is a fantastic opportunity for everyone on these islands to become more familiar with the coast and the marine environment beyond.

What we now need is a strong Scottish Marine Bill
We would like to join the Marine Conservation Society in their call for action:
As the Marine (Scotland) Bill enters a crucial phase in the Scottish Parliament, please take one action to let your MSP know how important it is that the Bill delivers real protection and recovery for Scotland’s seas: click here -- there is still just time, but please hurry!

What the UK Marine and Coastal Access Act can do, in the words of TV presenter Nicholas Crane:
"[…] Since the Land Reform (Scotland) Act of 1973, the view from the Inaccessible Pinnacle has embraced the land of the free-spirited; a landscape that is not blocked with barbed wire and Keep Out signs. In Scotland, there is a statutory right of responsible access over most areas of open countryside; a right to roam over much of the country’s moorland, mountains, forests, farmlands, riverbanks and coast. The Scots have a history of enlightenment.
"Thirty-six years after the Act received Royal Assent, the Scottish countryside has not been trashed by millions of vandals wearing bobble hats. Open access has brought tourism and a greater understanding of country needs. Everything I’ve learnt about the management of deer herds and salmon – and their contribution to local economies – has been gleaned during chance encounters with gamekeepers and ghillies whose estates I can cross without trepidation. Scotland has put its people back in touch with the land. And that, as we career into an era of accelerated environmental change, can only be a good thing.
"South of the border, we’re playing catch-up, but the Marine and Coastal Access Act, which became law on Thursday, is a historic breakthrough. The creation of a continuous, coastal access zone, and the protection of our marine habitats, will help us to see that we belong to a global biosphere. Part of that imaginative leap is the rediscovery of our status as islanders, with a responsibility for our own shores and coastal waters.
[…]
"But the Marine Act is much more than a walkers’ charter. Stand on any beach or cliff-top, turn to the sea’s horizon, and you will be gazing across the most important – and least visible – habitat on earth. Half of the UK’s biodiversity lives in our coastal waters, but rising sea temperatures, acidification, bottom-trawling, overfishing, sewage, garbage and a host of ugly threats are exacting a fearful toll. In UK waters, 22 species of wildlife are facing the threat of global extinction. The Marine Conservation Society regard the new Act as “a milestone”, which they hope will lead to the creation of 73 marine conservation zones intended to protect a range of species from cold-water corals to sea horses and basking sharks. […]"
[[By Nicholas Crane, published: 7:00AM GMT 14 Nov 2009, in the Telegraph]]

For the full text and some beautiful photos, please go to http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/6563864/Marine-and-Coastal-Access-Act-our-coast-is-now-a-treasure-to-share.html

A success story from Appin, Argyll

Your blogger has just been told that Appin has been very successful in its struggle against plastic bags.

According to GP (ret.) Dr. Ian McNicoll of the Appin Community Cooperative, the Appin Community Cooperative shop*) started charging 5p for their plastic carrier bags on 1st May 2008.

Prior to that date they gave the bags away for free, to the tune of 50,000 bags a year, which cost the shop £1,000.
Since May 2008, consumption has dropped to less than 5,000 bags a year and the shop has made a profit on the bags it has sold. It is a profit that goes straight back into the community, for example towards an expensive off-premises alcohol license, without which the shop would find it difficult to survive.
Dr. McNicoll told your blogger that there were some objections from customers initially but only for a few weeks.

It is another example of a shop making a big difference by taking what may initially be perceived as an unpopular step.

Way to go, Appin!

*) for a photo of the shop, please click on the link http://www.camuscross.org/index.asp?pageid=79595 and scroll down a bit.

Follow-up on Biodegradable plastic bags – an enquiry

Dear All

Today is UK Plastic Bag Free Day!

You will remember my post of Tuesday, 18 August 2009, entitled "Biodegradable plastic bags – the start of an enquiry", in which I informed you that Sustainable Oban wrote to find out a bit more about Tesco's free biodegradable plastic carrier bags.
Well, here's the answer received yesterday from Tesco Customer Service Centre, Baird Avenue, Dundee DD2 3TN (Ref. 9352035/KS):

"Thank you for contacting us with your enquiry about free carrier bags from our Oban store.
"From looking at our data our store at Oban has reduced the number of carrier bags by a total of 3.5 million since our May 2006 base line – and 1.88m year to date for this financial year.
"We haven't been told or involved in the UK plastic bag free day, so unfortunately it won't be supported by Tesco.
"We have recently changed all our carrier bags from degradable to biodegradable.
"What this means in essence is that we have introduced a different additive into the structure of the bag that will degrade the plastic pretty rapidly – it will become unusable after a year or so. This additive will also degrade the plastic bag down into smaller particles than before.
"This is a two stage process. The plastic degrades over a period of three years into very small particles, which are then ingested by the microbes in the land fill which further degrade the products into their constituent parts; this is biodegradation.
"When the bags were only degradable then they did not degrade down into small enough particles for this microbial action to take place. The carbon chains were just too long. With the new additive the microbial action can now take place, hence the bags are now biodegradable."
"Thanks for taking time to contact us. I hope this information has been helpful.
"Yours sincerely
[signed L Graham]
"For and on behalf of Tesco Stores Ltd
"Lynsey Graham
"Customer Service Manager"

While Tesco's answer is appreciated, please note that their letter does not state the number of free biodegradable plastic bags they still hand out at their Oban store alone. It must be huge if they've managed to reduce the number by almost 2 million bags in this financial year alone! The mind boggles at the number of free bags taken home (and thrown into landfill) by each resident of and visitor to the Oban area.

Please leave your comments on this post.

Yours truly is now off to find out what can be done with SPE (plastic) punnets from the berries and soft fruit we like to eat at this time of year. Over only the past six weeks, an impressive stack of them has accumulated in this one-person household. How do you deal with them?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and I'll keep you posted.

Reusable nets and bags -- sizes, materials

Hiya all

Just as I expected, Debbie Soutar has been back to me with some answers to the questions I raised in an e-mail to her yesterday, and in my post about her reusable nets and bags. So, here is Debbie's input on size and source of materials, just in:

*****

Good Morning Margaret

Thank you for replying and I hope I can help with your questions. Thank you also for the suggestion re sizing on the web site. We will look to incorporate this next time we are getting amendments done.

The size of the nets with ...take5nets is 14" long x 12" wide. They are on a drawsting and toggle lock to close. All seams are double sewn for extra strength. They really do take a lot of veg and fruit. They are very very popular. We sell into farm shops, food halls, stately homes as well as over the internet. I am afraid we cannot afford to take on the supermarkets, so hope people buy from us and then use them in the supermarkets.

Regarding sourcing. We have tried our hardest. Our first thought was that they had to be reusable and therefore durable. We also wanted them to be animal free (no silk content). We managed to get some of the cloth to be recycled product but toggles we cannot guarantee. With the outer bags for ...take5bags and ...take5again we cannot guarantee recycled but we know there is an element (approx 25%) of recycled. The net is knitted. A lot of net product we saw was too harsh or heavy to have next to fruit. We also had to get food contact approval so the material had to match the criteria for this area. All in all, despite the odd compromise, we feel the nets (our most popular product) certainly stop the use of one-use bags for fruit and veg (and that includes paper which destroys our trees).

We need activities and people like yourselves to spread the word. Your initiative for the 'bag free day' is super.

Kind regards

Debbie Soutar


PS: I am the Director of the Company and a founder member, but we are a team of 5; Penny Halliwell, a co-Director, was the 'ideas' person behind this venture.

again & a-gain ltd
Registered office: Eastfield, Backlatch, Ceres,
Fife KY15 5NT
Company registered in Scotland: SC331769

*****

I think I will place an order soon and see what those bags are like. Sadly, biodegradable and reusable don't go together very well, for quite obvious reasons.

Have a wonderful, plastic-bag free day!

Interesting Scottish source of reusable bags - an alternative to the thin PE/HDPE bags in which we wrap fruit, veg, bulk-bought cereals etc.?

Hello all

Deborah Soutar, the founder of Again-and-a-Gain Ltd based in Ceres, Fife, sent in this comment, which I'm happy to share as a separate post:

"Have you heard of the web site www.againanda-gain.com? It has a series of reusable nets and bags that are meant for fruit and veg but are great for anything from golf balls to hairbrushes to general tidies...
Certainly help on the eradication of the one-use bags."

According to Debbie's website, "the …take5TM range of nets and bags offers a viable alternatives for the single use, thin HDPE bag or paper bag offered free at fruit and vegetable counters."

Definitely worth a visit. The bags look attractive, the prices seem ok, the idea is certainly an excellent one. My only gripe is that the descriptions of the bags don't come with any measurements so it's hard to tell just how big individual bags and nets are. And I would have liked to find some information on what actually goes into these nets and bags.

Thank you in anticipation, Debbie, for your comment. :)

Biodegradable plastic bags - the start of an enquiry

Dear All

You may be interested to know that Sustainable Oban have just sent off a letter to find out a bit more about Tesco's free biodegradable plastic carrier bags.

Here's the letter:

Tesco Customer Service
PO Box 73
Baird Avenue
Dryburgh Industrial Estate
Dundee
DD1 9NF

Dear Madam, dear Sir

Re: "Biodegradable" plastic carrier bags from Tesco Stores

In view of the upcoming UK PLASTIC-BAG FREE DAY on 12th September, we have noted with interest that Tesco Oban now give away "biodegradable" plastic bags.

Some of our members would be most interested to know a little more about the source and composition of these plastic bags.

We would also be interested to know whether Tesco Oban have managed to bring down the use of free plastic bags over the past year or so, and if so, by how much. It is our personal impression that the environs of Tesco Oban continue to be blighted by plastic refuse, either tossed away by customers or strewn about because the bins placed in various spots on the car park are not wind or gull proof.

Looking forward to receiving your comments, we remain
yours sincerely

Margaret Powell-Joss, Secretary

PS: This letter will also be posted on http://obanplasticbagfree.blogspot.com, where we will be happy to post your reply upon receipt.

Spread the word: one Oban shop has donated generously to charity

I would like to share this feedback received on 11th August from Gwyneth Neal at House & Home Oban. Very many thanks, Gwyneth, and congratulations on your imaginative scheme and generosity!

Dear Margaret
At House and Home in Oban we've been discouraging the use of plastic bags for almost
eighteen months. We always ask "Do you need a bag?" and never just hand out bags.
We also placed a charge of 10p on plastic carriers.
We don't keep the money but have a local charity nominated every month and leave a jar
on the counters to collect the money. We have given over £700 to various local charities, reduced our plastic usage by a half (to the point that the Edinburgh company we bought from has closed) and all in all feel we are doing our bit towards the environment.
We've been shouted at by regular customers who feel we've a cheek to charge for bags and
accused of trying to increase our profit with the charge but in the main most people are
willing to pay and we've found that more and more folk are coming in with their own bags.
Eighteen months has seen big changes. It would be good if all the shops did the same!
Regards
Gwyneth

12th September is fast approaching. Here's what YOU can do

Hello there

As you may know, 12th September is UK Plastic-Bag Free Day. May I suggest that each and every one of you respectfully ask at least one shopkeeper in your town not to give out any plastic bags on that day? You can do so by speaking to the shopkeeper, or by sending them a politely-worded letter, like this (please feel free to adapt). Very many thanks for your support.


(Sender's address)
(Date)

(Shopkeeper's name and address)

12th September 2009 is UK Plastic-Bag Free Day

Dear Madam, dear Sir
[better still: Dear (your shopkeeper's first name)]

As one of your regular customers and as someone who is interested in sustainable living and caring for our environment, I would like to ask you

not to give out any free "disposable" plastic bags on
Saturday, 12th September 2009.

Although the number of bags given out by Scottish supermarkets has been halved over the last three years, the UK is still among the countries with the highest consumption of "disposable" plastic bags. Such bags are not usually biodegradable and, when thrown away, blight the environment and maim and kill our birds and wildlife, especially sea creatures such as turtles, seals and dolphins. It is perhaps a less well-known fact that plastic detritus accumulates toxins which, when ingested by sea creatures, slowly make their way up the food chain. When they end up in the human body, they have all kinds of negative effects, not least on human fertility.

Thank you for helping us make the UK a plastic-bag free country.

Yours sincerely
(Your signature and name)


PS: For more information, visit http://obanplasticbagfree.blogspot.com/

BBC News: Supermarkets in Scotland cut bag use by nearly 50% in last 3 years

Hello

It's quite an impressive piece of brand-new news that I have just stumbled across:

"Supermarkets cut bag use by 50%
The number of plastic bags given to customers by Scottish supermarkets has almost halved in the last three years."

I quote further from the BBC page, which also has some impressive photos and is well worth visiting:

***
The number of plastic bags given to customers by Scottish supermarkets has almost halved in the last three years.

Seven supermarkets signed up to the voluntary Scottish Government scheme which aimed to reduce the number of bags given out by 50%.

This led to the equivalent of nearly 39 million fewer bags being used in May 2009 compared with May 2006 - a 49.4% reduction - new figures showed.

A similar scheme was later adopted across the whole of the UK.

The figures released by the Scottish Government and British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed the reduction in the number of bags handed out by Asda, the Co-operative Group, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose in Scotland over the past three years.

[…]

*****

Mind you, the Oban cityscape is still blighted by far too many plastic bags strewn all over the place. So let's not get too smug, ok.

High time to talk rubbish

I just came across this item on the BBC Science page:

"It is time to start talking rubbish
A range of measures - some more popular than others - are needed if the UK is going to get on top of its waste problem."

I've long been shocked that huge amounts of waste go to landfill sites in this country. According to reliable sources, about six large lorries a day travel from Oban-Moleigh to Lochgilphead because the Oban landfill site is full. What a waste in every sense of the word!!!

***

Burying our rubbish in huge pits in the ground is no longer an option in the 21st Century, says Stuart Wardlaw. In this week's Green Room, he argues that a range of measures - some more popular than others - is needed if the UK is going to get on top of its waste problem.

Our consumer culture does nothing to help our overflowing landfills

Research reveals that Britain is still considered the "dustbin of Europe" because it is still dumping more household waste into landfill than any other EU nation.

It threw away a staggering 22.6 million tonnes of rubbish in 2004/5; in fact, Britain sent the same amount to landfill as the 18 EU countries with the lowest landfill rates combined, despite these places having twice the population of the UK.

Britain's failure to invest in the more sustainable waste management practices based on the three Rs - re-use, recycle and recovery - has lead to an excessive dependence on landfill.

But these days are fast disappearing.

Planning and environmental permitting of landfills has been made significantly tougher with the aim of better controlling their environmental impacts.

However, this has substantially reduced the availability of suitable sites. If you compare this to our disproportionately large population to land mass ratio then, put simply, we are running out of space to dump our waste.

As a result, we may face a landfill shortage within the decade, according to the Local Government Association.

[…]

*****

Surfers Against Sewage Petition No. 10 to Implement Marine Litter Strategy

Hiya again

In a roundabout fashion, I happened on the following petition submitted to No. 10 Downing Street, i.e. Britain's Prime Minister, to Implement a Marine Litter Strategy and assign a suitable and credible body to tackle this worsening problem.

Your Oban Plastic Bag Free! blogger would like to encourage you to join the crowds and sign the petition on-line. It's painless and quick, and may make a difference eventually.

Deadline to sign up by: 01 March 2010

From the Petitioner's explanations:

"Volumes of marine litter are dramatically increasing year after year. Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) has successful marine litter campaigns targeting manufacturers, mobilising large-scale grass roots direct action and increasing public awareness on this ever-worsening problem. However, with each new high tide comes a new marine litter line impacting on our beloved beaches and surf spots.

"Current anti-litter legislation such as The Environmental Protection Act 1990, MARPOL and the Port Waste Reception Facilities regulations are not providing the levels of protection needed for the coastline.

"SAS believe that marine litter is coming from a wide variety of sources, including; beach users, sanitary related debris, industry, and fishing. SAS and other environmental NGOs have found that almost 70% of this litter is plastic. Plastics have a devastating impact on the marine environment over a long period, as well as economic impacts on local communities and the fishing industry.

"As an SAS supporter, I urge you to implement a National Marine Litter Strategy to combat this worsening issue and help protect our coastlines."

More and more reusable bags, fewer and fewer plastic bags

Hello again

It is heartening to see many, many more customers than even just a year ago bringing their own bags to do their shopping. Of course, until only just a few decades ago, that was the norm. How quickly we forget!

It is equally heartening to see more and more shops handing out fewer and fewer plastic bags, and turning to recyclable and/or fully biodegradable options in those cases where well-packaged goods require another layer, or customers did not bring their own bags.

And it is encouraging to notice how many shops charge for the bags they do hand out. Many of them do not use the money to pay for their overheads but donate it to a charity of their choice -- and we all know how charities and NGOs have suffered in this horrendous economic "downturn".

Nonetheless, a lot of plastic (and other) rubbish still blights the streets and shrubberies, garden fences, trees and vacant lots of Oban and its environs.

Please help keep Oban tidy. Sign the No More Trash

Litter Pledge:

I promise to do my part to make and keep Oban litter free.
I promise to keep my house, my garden and my town clean and free of trash.
I will throw my trash away and pick up trash when I see it.
I will tell my family and friends about No More Trash!

A suggestion for teachers: Adapt the pledge for your classroom.

A suggestion for the Council: Follow the example of Colchester Borough Council and erect anti-littering signs at gateways into Oban to prevent people from dropping their unwanted rubbish.

More follow-up on biodegradable plastic bags – an enquiry

Hiya

Michael Stephen – who has not made his affiliation or interests clear – has left a comment that deserves to be shared here, but also requires our critical consideration. Michael has made four statements (given in italics below), lifted from the website of the Oxo-biodegradable Plastics Organisation:
1
It is not a good idea to ban plastic bags (See http://www.biodeg.org/Plasticbagbans.htm) but it is a good idea to make them oxo-biodegradable (www.biodeg.org), and Tesco are to be congratulated. These bags will harmlessly self-destruct if they get into the open environment.
According to an article in "British Plastics & Rubber" (10/06/2009 – also see below), the claim of "harmless self-destruction" needs substantiation.
2
Why buy an expensive cloth bag when your free plastic bag can be used many times over - it will fit in your pocket or handbag.
Quite. And there's a lot to be said for the fact that plastic bags need very little space and energy. But experience shows that most consumers do not reuse their free plastic bags; at best they use them as bin liners once they've carried their shopping home. And the argument of "automatic" degradability may encourage people to litter even more (again, see the article cited in 1, above, and cited in full below).
Again, we as consumers need to change our habits…
3
Plastic is made from a by-product of oil-refining which used to be wasted, so nobody is importing extra oil to make it.
The by-product is naphtha, but plastics production drives oil imports. _____________
4
The space occupied in landfills by plastic shopping bags is tiny. If we are worried about space in landfills we should concentrate on material such as builder's waste, which occupies a lot of space.
Totally agree. Builder's waste needs sorting out. Waste needs sorting out, period. The landfill culture in this country needs to transform itself into a waste-incineration culture so that _______________

The issue that Michael Stephen's comment does not address is the need to reduce the use of any kind of plastic – period.

***

British Plastics & Rubber, the "Monthly Magazine for Britain's Polymer Processors"
Oxo-degradation "bad for plastics recycling"
June 10, 2009

Two trade associations have called for restraint in the use of degradation additives in plastics, and warn that their use could lead to a valuable resource being lost. US-based NAPCOR (The National Association for PET Container Resources) is concerned that there is no publicly available data to substantiate some claims made about degradability of PET. Its chairman Tom Busard said "We urge manufacturers of PET resin and packaging to refrain from introductions of degradable additive-containing products until data is made available for review and verification so we can better understand these products and their potential ramifications". And EuPR, the European Plastics Recyclers Association, has taken issue about claims made for oxo-degradable additives and called for "industry to be watchful not to destroy the achievements of the past years in plastics recycling by using unsustainable technologies for plastics."
NAPCOR's specific concerns are that no data has been made publicly available to substantiate or document:

the claims of degradability of PET polymer containing degradable additives;

the effect of degradable additives on the quality of the PET recycling stream;

the impacts of degradable additives on the products made from recycled PET; and

the true impact on the service life of these products.
The organisation points out that the value of recycled materials, such as PET, is an important economic driver for kerbside recycling programmes. But that without the testing and data necessary to understand the potential impacts of degradable additives in PET, the whole PET recycling system could be at risk. According to NAPCOR executive director Dennis Sabourin: "We don't yet understand the impacts that these additives could have on the quality of the PET recycling stream, let alone the impacts on the safety and functionality over time of next-use PET products like recycled-content PET packaging, carpeting, or strapping."
Aside from the potential impacts on recycling, NAPCOR questions the value of the concept itself: whether or not it's proven that packaging will safely degrade in landfills, or as roadside or marine litter, the value of the inherent energy used in the manufacture of plastic packaging is lost, not recaptured as it is through recycling and re-manufacturing.
The EuPR compares plastics with an energy bank. It points out that once the energy is stored by polymerisation, it can be transformed into stable products and, depending on the product cycle, the waste produced can be mechanically recycled or its energy recovered. "In both cases the plastic has an energy value."
But it says the use of oxo-degradable additives will destroy the stored energy of the material. "It is an economic and environmental nonsense to destroy this value. Moreover, it is the most unsustainable - together with landfill - way to use the valuable oil transformed in plastic. The claim that greenhouses gases are being saved by the use of oxo-degradable additives is not a proven fact."
EuPR is also concerned about the wider effects of introducing degradation additives into the recycling stream and says that the joint efforts made by all the stakeholders in order to achieve the European recycling targets is currently at risk. "The oxo-degradable additives will jeopardise mechanical recycling as they will pollute the existing waste streams. As a matter of fact, the consumer will not differentiate the different type of plastics and will throw everything in the same bin."
The belief that oxo-degradation will relieve the problem of plastics litter is also addressed by both organisations. "Even if a package were to disappear or fragment – and we've not yet seen this evidence – it would not make the package sustainable, nor does it provide any positive impacts in terms of greenhouse gas emissions or resource conservation," said NAPCOR's Dennis Sabourin. While EuPR suggests that public attention will be diverted from recycling by thinking, "it will degrade by itself", which could actually increase littering as people would be less inclined to put their waste in litter bins.

*****

Life cycle study shows biodegradable plastics least efficient in rubbish bags

September 4, 2009
Rubbish bags made from conventional polyolefins are more eco-friendly than bags made from biodegradable plastics, and bags incorporating post-consumer reclaim are the most eco-friendly of all, according to a study from the German Association for Plastics Packaging and Films, the IK. The association has published a life cycle analysis carried out by the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU) in Germany on behalf of a group of German manufacturers and distributors of waste bags.
The study compared bags sold in Germany and France which had been produced in China and Poland. The polyethylene bags were made from combinations of HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, post consumer PE recyclate and chalk filler and the biodegradable bags were made from BIOP's Biopar potato starch-sourced co-polyester, from Biopar containing BASF's Ecoflex biodegradable polyester, and from BASF's Ecovio, a blend of Ecoflex and PLA – which BASF recommends only for compostable bags and not general refuse bags.
Transportation from Asia added to the environmental cost for the Chinese bags, but aside from this the IFEU found that conversion to bags and transport to point of sale were significantly less relevant in the life cycle cost equation than the raw material production.
The study was carried out using Umberto, a software product described as the standard for mass flow modelling and LCA. The assessment of affects on climate change, fossil resources, environmental damage, use of natural resources and non-renewable and primary energy showed that standard virgin PE bags had a lower environmental impact on all counts than the Biopar bags. And bags with PCR content and chalk filler had the lowest impact of all, partly because of the replacement of virgin PE content by the filler.
The report concludes "provided that PCR content does not increase the weight of the bags considerably waste bags with PCR content are a recommendable option for bag producers and retailers" and that "the scenarios of currently existing biobags show larger environmental pollution indicator results than those of polyolefin bags."
There is a lot of potential for environmental improvement of biodegradable bags, says the report, but only a combination of options (material, design and technical improvements) would bring the environmental impact profiles of biobags within range of those of the polyethylene bags.
Download a summary of the report.

Guardian Weekly: 'Sailing Through a Sea of Plastic'

Young seagull in Oban Harbour, summer 2008 (Photo: MPJ)
Hiya
Another account of the devastating effects of our wasteful lifestyles, from the Guardian Weekly, published on Monday June 8th 2009:

'Sailing through a sea of plastic'

Three years ago, environmental activist Josh Berry was on a sailing trip from California to Hawaii when he encountered the Pacific Trash Vortex – a huge patch of ocean-borne garbage thought to be twice the size of Texas. On UN World Oceans Day, he describes the sight of man-made garbage floating for miles on end and why he devotes his time to ocean conservation.

Read the article -- it is well worth it. It may help you talk to people when you see them toss rubbish away. Help us remove plastic packaging, which is a major contributor to the blight on our landscape and our seas.

When you shop, insist on fully biodegradable packaging. There are sustainable, biodegradable, locally sourced alternatives out there.

Biodegradable alternatives to the ubiquitous "disposable" plastic bag. (Photo: MPJ, summer 2008)

http://www.biobags4u.co.uk
http://www.biodegradablebag.co.uk

Thank you.

Is this the publicity shops want?

Oban shops have been phasing out plastic bags. More and more, check-out staff ask customers, "Do you really need a bag?", rather than just handing me one for free. Elsewhere, a notice on the counter states that the shop will be happy to hand out bags, but will charge 5p or 10p for each bag. Way to go!

(Photo by MPJ, April 2009; cyclepath from Ganavan to Dunbeg)

But there are still far too many cheap plastic bags in circulation. Is this (above) really what shop owners want customers to see? When I see sights like this plastic bag lying by the wayside, I think of where it may well end up and what harm it may do there:

(Photo off the web)

There really is no excuse any more, as there are sufficient numbers of alternatives available, such as cornstarch bags:

(Photo by MPJ, April 2009)

They cost more, that's true, but only because cheap plastic bags do not reflect the true cost of their removal from the environment.

A PBF U.K. Mission Statement

Dear All

Your Oban Plastic Bag Free! blogger takes pleasure in posting here the contents of a PBF U.K. Mission Statement. It is a great idea for forming a Plastic Bag Free Forum to target the U.K. Government.

****
No, not a dream but reality within 2 years:
The reason for the Forum is that it will have a direct involvement with the government's Environment Committee, chaired by Hilary Benn and it will serve as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the PBF world in the UK.

Action not words.
Rebecca Hosking from Modbury and Sue Kinsey at MCS agree with me that this is the next, obvious step to take. The PBF U.K Forum will comprise of representatives from every area aiming to go plastic bag free or a representative for a group of communities. Elected by the groups doing the actual work in their locality, the
representatives will have the knowledge and support of their local community.
The Forum aims to build on, and work in conjunction with, the excellent work being done by other groups such as the Google plastic bag free forum.
The Forum will know, from its members, the situation in each area and be able to produce facts and figures for the government’s Environment Committee. I’ve been assured that this group will be listened to from contacts in London and by a direct exchange from those working with [the] Environment Committee.

One voice:
There are various plastic bag free sites such as ‘Abolish Plastic Bags’ and the Google forum site and I want to bring all these groups together. I am contacting all those people responsible for these kinds of websites across the UK as it is better to have a strong, coherent and factual voice, all under one umbrella that will be accepted as an authority on PBF for the UK.

Tony Langham.
01722-328847
grandadforest [AT] btinternet.com
*****
Please leave a comment on this blog and/or enter Tony's e-mail address manually if you wish to contact him to express your support of his idea.

Reducing plastic bags: new figures show efforts by retailers and consumers deliver results

Hello All

I'm very pleased to focus on a bit of fairly good news today, which is that our efforts to curb the use of plastic bags is having an effect. WRAP (www.wrap.org.uk) published this announcement in February 2009:

Retailers exceed carrier bag reduction target

26 February 2009

New figures show efforts by retailers and consumers delivering results

New figures released today by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) [1] show the UK’s leading high street and grocery retailers have exceeded a voluntary target to reduce the environmental impact of carrier bags by 25% by the end of 2008.

Since 2006, retailers have delivered a 40% reduction in the environmental impact of carrier bags, as measured by the reduction in the amount of virgin plastic used. [2] Retailers have achieved this by reducing the number of carrier bags issued by 26%, increasing recycled content used and reducing carrier bag weight. [3]

The target to reduce the environmental impact of carrier bags was part of an agreement with UK Governments and industry in February 2007 which has been met in full by a reduction in bag numbers alone.

This achievement also reflects the active engagement of consumers, who have helped to make it happen.

Dr Liz Goodwin, WRAP CEO said:

“Consumers deserve congratulations for these results as they clearly show we are moving away from using bags once to re-using bags often. They are also a credit to retailers who have worked hard to find innovative ways of helping us re-use our bags.”

Over the past two years, WRAP has been collecting data and monitoring initiatives by retailers that help reduce the environmental impact of carrier bags including encouraging re-use through reward schemes, promoting bags for life and charging for bags.

The data shows that initiatives by retailers [4] to reduce the environmental impact of carrier bags have resulted in a 23,000 tonne reduction in the weight of carrier bags issued. The total number of bags in circulation has reduced from 13.4 billion in 2006 to 9.9 billion in 2008, equivalent to a 26% reduction.

Jane Milne from the BRC [British Retail Consortium, 5] said;

“Congratulations to all our customers and check-out colleagues who have done so much to achieve this result. With this first target met and exceeded we are now working to halve the number of bags taken by May this year. We need every customer to help us by remembering their bags for life on planned shopping trips and, where they do need to take an ordinary carrier bag, re-using it on five or six shopping trips before returning it for recycling. Together we can do it!” [6, 7, 8, 9]

ENDS

Editor's notes:

1. The agreement was between 21 of the leading high street and grocer retailers and Defra, the then Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Office. The agreement was actively supported by the Packaging and Film Association (PAFA) via the Carrier Bag Consortium.
2. WRAP’s role in the agreement is to monitor the progress of the agreement through data collection and analysis. The members of the agreement issue their respective data to WRAP voluntarily. WRAP’s remit from the signatories is to issue the results for carrier bag reduction targets across the industry as a whole and not to release individual retailer data.
3. The target was a 25% reduction in the environmental impact of carrier bags. This is being measured by looking at a reduction in the number of carrier bags issued and the amount of virgin plastic which provides a simple way to measure environmental impact.
4. Participating retailers are as follows:
   Asda Wal*Mart
   Boots
   Co-operative Group
   Debenhams
   DSG International plc (Currys and PC World)
   E H Booths & Co Ltd
   Home Retail Group (Argos and Homebase)
   John Lewis Partnership (John Lewis and Waitrose)
   Marks & Spencer
   Next Group plc
   Nisa Todays
   Primark Stores Ltd
   Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd
   Somerfield Group
   Spar (UK) Ltd
   Tesco
   Travis Perkins (Wickes)
   Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc
5. A further agreement between the Scottish Government and supermarkets has been made. Defra, the Welsh Assembly Government, and the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment have also made an agreement with the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and its supermarket members. Both agreements aim to reduce the number of single use carrier bags issued to consumers by 50% by the end of May 2009. WRAP has agreed to monitor progress against these targets. The participating supermarkets are Asda Wal*Mart, Co-operative Group, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd, Somerfield Group and Tesco.
6. WRAP works in partnership to encourage and enable businesses and consumers to be more efficient in their use of materials and recycle more things more often. This helps to minimise landfill, reduce carbon emissions and improve our environment.
7. Established as an independent company in 2000, WRAP is backed by government funding from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
8. Working in seven key areas (Construction, Retail, Manufacturing, Organics, Business Growth, Behavioural Change, and Local Authority Support), WRAP’s work focuses on market development and support to drive forward recycling and materials resource efficiency within these sectors, as well as wider communications and awareness activities including the multi-media national Recycle Now campaign for England.
9. More information on all of WRAP's programmes can be found on www.wrap.org.uk

   Sarah Brown
   WRAP - Head of Press & PR
   Tel: 01295 819618
   sarah.brown@wrap.org.uk

OBAN PLASTIC BAG FREE! SUPPORTS SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE

Dear friends

We feel encouraged by a message just in from the SELKIRK PLASTIC BAG FREE campaign, who have decided to publicly SUPPORT THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE.

Here is the wording of their message, which deserves to spread far and wide:

"The Selkirk Plastic Bag Free campaign supports the Scottish Government's initiative to help reduce the use of plastic carrier bags. With Scotland using one billion bags a year and our local authorities spending £385 million a year dealing with waste this new campaign to encourage us all to reduce our carrier bag use by 50% is a welcome step in the right direction.
"Changing habits takes time and it's important to remember that changing our use of plastic carrier bags to reusable bags is an ongoing process, but one that is happening. Change is afoot. The Scottish Government claims that research has shown that 92% of people believe that reusing bags is good for the environment yet 59% still forget to take their own bags with them when shopping. But habits are changing.
"Selkirk is a fine example of this. We know that the town is not yet 100% plastic bag free but our traders and townsfolk are working towards that and change is evident. There has been a significant reduction in the use of plastic carrier bags here and a huge increase in the numbers of those using reusable shopping bags. And our surrounding countryside is cleaner and tidier too.
"It is easy to see how campaigns such as these can drift from people's minds but if we keep up the effort, if we keep talking about it and bringing it back into the public domain then we can surely make more of a difference.
"For all those people out there who are making the effort (and the numbers are substantial) we would say 'Keep up the good work. We are making a difference. Change is happening.'

Jenna Agate
Selkirk Plastic Bag Free"

More volunteers would be welcome!

Hiya all

Since founding member Astrid left for Stirlingshire, the Oban Plastic Bag Free! initiative has lost some of its energy. We could really use one or two more volunteers to help contacting Oban shops and ensure their support of our initiative.

It would be a question of a couple of afternoons in the run-up to Easter.

Would anyone interested kindly contact info @ sustainable-oban.net, please (this is not a hyperlink -- you will need to copy-paste the address by hand to your outgoing e-mail).

We will be delighted to hear from you!

An Oban shop takes an important first step

Hello again

In the run-up to our next public meeting on Friday, January 23, 2009 (Glencruitten Church Hall, Oban, 7 (for 7:15) to approx. 9pm), we would like to highlight an example of an excellent intermediate step taken by one of Oban's prestigious shops:

Ms Ch. Bremner of House and Home was approached with an idea and decided to act on it. This is what she has done: on the counter, her customers can find a donation box and the following notice, reproduced here with Ms Bremner's permission:

Alexander Kilmurray P4,
Eco Committe, Park School
has requested that we should be charging for
Carrier Bags to save Wildlife and the planet.
To comply with this request and encourage the use of
Traditional Shopping Bags and the reuse of Carrier Bags
All Carrier Bags will now incur a charge of 10p each.
All money raised from this will be donated to local charities.
This month's [January 2009] is:
Mary's Meals and Scottish International Relief.
Last month £75.00 was donated to
Oban Christmas Lights Appeal.

Ms Bremner assured your blogger that every month between about £50 and up to £100 have been donated to a local charity.
What a fantastic way of increasing awareness!
Thank you and congratulations, Alexander Kilmurray and Cherren Bremner!

Plasticbag.org.uk - Sustainable Oban Meeting: Jan 23, 2009

Hello again

This is a quick reminder that the
next Sustainable Oban meeting at the Glencruitten Church Hall, Oban

Friday, 23 January, 2009, 7 to approx. 9pm

will include an update on our Initiative to get Oban Plastic Bag Free!

Everyone's most welcome!


Finally, your blogger browsed the web in search of facts on the production of plastic bags.

Plasticbag.org.uk -- "the campaign to reduce the effects of plastic bags on our world" -- is a website that may well be worth your visit.

Cheerioh!

Hello again

Searching for facts and figures on the consumption of energy to produce plastic bags, your blogger has come across a fascinating article by Lucy Siegle in The Observer, Sunday 29 January 2006. Its title is

One family, one month, 50kg of packaging. Why?

Well worth your visit -- simply click on the title to be taken to the full article.

Cheerioh!