Deputation:
to work towards making Southampton plastic bag free

Madam Mayor, ladies & gentlemen of the City Council…

I’ve come here today to ask you to make Southampton part of the community of towns and cities which are plastic bag free.

In recent decades plastics have revolutionised our daily lives and have brought benefits to society. However, there are considerable environmental costs resulting from the accumulation of plastic waste and the effects of plastic debris on wildlife and humans. Parks, streets, sewers, beaches, deserts and oceans have become clogged up with rubbish which is predominantly plastic and much of it includes single use plastic bags.

I’m sure many of you have seen harrowing photographs of baby albatrosses found with their stomachs full of plastic; of turtles who eat plastic bags when they mistake them for jellyfish; and have heard of the ‘Pacific plastic soup’ - a huge area of discarded human trash floating in an ocean far from human habitation.

Locally, in Southampton, the City Council and volunteers work together to clear our only Local Nature Reserve at Chessel Bay of the tide of waste which accumulates along the shoreline. The vast majority of this is discarded plastic. We are not alone: the Marine Conservation Society website shows that beach clean-ups have now necessarily become an international phenomenon.

Here are a few facts:

• Globally we use in excess of 260 million tons of plastic per annum, accounting for approximately 8 per cent of world oil production
• UK supermarkets give away about 17 billion plastic bags a yearear
• On average, each plastic carrier bag is used for only 12 minutes
• World use of plastic bags is estimated at between 500 billion and 1 trillion per year
• Plastic products typically persist in the environment for hundreds of years
• Plastics can act as a source of environmental contaminants.

As the facts clearly show, this is not a trivial matter.

So, is going plastic bag free practical and achievable?

Yes. It’s been done and it works. The first town in Britain to go plastic bag free was Modbury, Devon in 2007; after BBC wildlife camera woman Rebecca Hosking revealed the appalling costs to wildlife who dine and die on manmade plastic waste. Now, in Modbury, shoppers bring their re-usable bags—usually cotton or jute—with them every time they shop. Citizens in Modbury are proud of their success and the town is thriving.

Now many other towns and Cities are following suit. Aiming to go plastic bag free are Bath, Reading, Brighton, Salisbury, Chandlers Ford and Romsey, and there are many others. Further afield, Bangladesh have banned plastic bags in their capital city. Cities in America and Australia are also following suit. Wales has recently announced the introduction of compulsory charges on plastic carrier bags.

Plastic bags are, of course, only part of the problem. We need to cut down on all our waste. But, banning the plastic bag is a good place to start – as many others have.

A good way for Southampton to move forward would be for the City Council to support a pilot project in a suitable area in our City. I would like to suggest this support is given to the traders in Bitterne Park triangle, who form part of a vibrant network of shops and services for their local community.

Hopefully too, the good example set by traders and businesses who go plastic bag free will be followed by others in our City: all the more so if this initiative has the support of the local authority.

So, let’s make Southampton part of this growing community and work towards reducing all our waste and eliminating the plastic carrier bag.

I should like to present the Mayor, Councillor Liz Mizon with this turtle bag.
Thank you.

18^th November 2009