Do you need a bag for that?
First national consultation on Looking Local investigates plastic bag usage
Date: 26th June, 2010.Using the consultation elements of the Looking Local technology, the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) has launched its first national consultation into single use plastic bags. The consultation was launched at the Hay Festival as part of the One Wales Sustainable Development Scheme by Jane Davidson, minister for the environment, sustainability and housing.
An estimated 480m plastic bags are used in Wales each year and the consultation seeks to understand what people across Wales think about charges for plastic bags, the differing levels of charges depending on what it will be used for and whether any items should be exempt. Running for eight weeks the consultation complements other electronic and more traditional channels.
The WAG Digital Inclusion Team recently undertook some research which showed that 30-40% of the population had no access to broadband or a PC at home. This figure - lower than the UK average - underlies their commitment to Looking Local as a viable alternative to widen access to consultations and government services in general. Not only is access via Looking Local free for local people across Wales to use, but it also reduces the cost and environmental impact of paper-based surveys and forms.
Consultation into single use plastic bags on Looking Local
"It takes between 500 and 1,000 years for these bags to degrade and this cannot continue," Davidson said. "By re-using bags, not only will we reduce litter, but also help cut our global footprint."
This issue rose to prominence after Modbury in South Devon became the first town in Europe to entirely free of plastic bags back in May 2007. Since then hundreds of towns and villages across the country have begun campaigning to seriously reduce or remove totally the use of single use plastic bags. Many have also achieved an outright ban and the success of the Republic of Ireland - who introduced a 15cent charge on all plastic bags in 2002 and reduced usage by 90% - is an example for others to follow.
To see this consultation click here. (To run your own consultation or understand how to use Looking Local for consultations, please contact us or your account manager.
