About Us
Welcome to the Haverfordwest Going Plastic Bag Free campaign.
Haverfordwest is the county town of Pembrokeshire and, together with Merlin’s Bridge, it has a population of around 13,500. Steeped in history, Haverfordwest is the administrative centre of the county. It is also the principal trading centre, with a mix of individual local shops, chain stores, and supermarkets. It attracts not only shoppers from all over the county, it has also developed into a fine tourist centre.
Our organisation is working hard towards making Haverfordwest a plastic shopping bag free town and we are delighted to welcome you on board.
All we are asking people to do is carry an alternative to a plastic bag when they go shopping. There are many alternative bags available but if you want to support our campaign, we have produced our own Haverfordwest cloth bag.
We have set out below the key milestones of our campaign so far
What We Have Done
• Launched the Haverfordwest Going Plastic Free campaign at Pembrokeshire College in November 2008. Businesses, shopkeepers and traders along with members of the community were invited to a viewing of the BBC film ‘Message in the Waves’ that inspired Modbury and many other towns in Britain to go ‘Plastic Bag Free’. Information was also provided about the effect of plastics in the marine environment with examples of the impacts on Pembrokeshire wildlife
• Held workshops in nine Haverfordwest primary schools to create designs for ‘Haverfordwest cloth bags’ and the winning design was used for our Haverfordwest bag which are now for sale
• Worked with young people to produce Haverfordwest Going Plastic Bag Free banners.
• Have had stalls at the Haverfordwest Farmers’ Market and Tesco Superstore
• Gave a presentation to the Haverfordwest Chamber of Trade and Commerce
• Visited retailers and 28 are already supporting the campaign by selling Haverfordwest cloth bags
What We Are Planning
• To write to the chain stores to urge them to find alternatives to plastic bags
• To continue to visit retailers to discuss the implication of going plastic bag free
• To continue raising awareness of the environmental impact of plastic among young people and the general public
For the cost of a few shopping bags we can remove a serious environmental problem … can we really afford not to?
FACTS ABOUT PLASTIC BAGS
12 billion plastic carrier bags are issued in the UK every year
A person uses a plastic carrier bag on average for only 12 minutes.
A plastic bag can take between 500 to 1000 years to break down in the environment.
In the UK at least 200 million plastic bags end up as litter on our beaches, streets and parks ever year.
When a plastic bag enters the ocean it becomes a harmful piece of litter. Many marine animals mistake plastic bags for food and swallow them, with painful and often fatal consequences.
On the 1st May 2007 Modbury in Devon was the first town in Britain to stop issuing plastic shopping bags. For more information: www.plasticbagfree.com. Since then other towns have followed and many others are planning to become plastic bag free.
The County town Haverfordwest needs to lead the way in Pembrokeshire. Already an increasing number of businesses and traders are selling our bags, but we need to reach the wider public.
To discuss the proposal further we are more than happy to meet any retailers or anyone interested in our campaign. You can contact Sally Davies on Tel 07766213606.