Many of Wallingford's leading retailers took part in Sustainable Wallingford's initiative to mark World Environment day on Saturday 5th June. 700 cotton bags bearing the Sustainable Wallingford logo were distributed to 9 Wallingford retailers, with customers encouraged to refuse a plastic bag in favour of a more environmentally-friendly re-usable version.
The bag day was the idea of Sustainable Wallingford's Sarah Webb, who
said, "We are delighted that so many stores in Wallingford agreed to support
this initiative. Reducing the number of plastic bags in circulation is an
important way of cutting down on the amount of non-biodegradable rubbish
that goes to landfill."
One of the retailers taking part in the campaign was KP Stationers, whose manager Ashley Kempson said, "From our point of view, the bags day was a real success. As a busy store, we got through our supply of bags very quickly and have had customers coming in asking for more! I am in favour of stricter policies on the use of plastic bags, which is why I was pleased to support the bags day."
The high-quality bags were supplied by Oxfordshire County Council, which has a number of strategies aimed at reducing waste. More information is available from the County Council.
The Wallingford stores who took part in the day were Waitrose, Pettits, Champions, Boots, KP Stationers, From Here to Maternity, Pennifex, Rags in Bags and Shoes in Twos.