Ely is the latest city to set a target of zero plastic bags following a trend around the world by Claire Morsman over 10 years ago.
The 5p plastic bag charge levied on customers has already saved potentially millions of bags going to landfill and entering into the worlds oceans. The 5p levy is to rise to 10p.
Globally over 1 million plastic bags are consumed per minute by marine wildlife. The national news has recently been widely publicising the devastating effects that this has had on the marine environment.
‘Ely Morsbaggers’ is the initiative of Sew Much To Do on High Street Passage and is calling on volunteers to help create the bags that local shoppers and visitors to Ely can use. It is hoped that some of those bags travel far and wide.
The website Morsbags has patterns that you can follow. Labels are available from either Ely Tourist Information Centre or Sew Much To Do, High Street Passage.
The community scheme led by volunteers is aiming to get 500 into circulation by Christmas.
Tracey Harding, Tourism, Town Centre and Events Manager for Visit Ely said: “This is a fantastic initiative and we really hope local people and businesses will become involved. We are extremely grateful to Sew Much to Do for co-ordinating a series of group sessions which will kick start the project and make Ely another step forward to becoming a plastic free city.”
Local shops will be given them for free and asked to encourage local shoppers to return them. Many supermarkets are no longer restocking plastic bags but encouraging customers to purchase the more expensive Bags for Life.
