Nick Supports Greening Jesmond Campaign
Nick with local Councillor David Hardman and Paul Curbishley of Taylor's in Acorn Road, one of the first to sign up to the campaign
Nick visited local businesses in Acorn Road in Jesmond today to support the local efforts spearheaded by Transition Jesmond to reduce the use of plastic bags.
The Jesmond scheme uses a rating scale to identify traders which are reducing their plastic bag use. The top level of three leaves (which has been awarded to 12 out of 21 local stores) designates shops which either do not use plastic bags, or charge customers for them.
The scheme was launched on the 13th July by the Headteacher and pupils of West Jesmond School and has been welcomed by members of the public. Plans are underway to extend the scheme to other parts of Jesmond and later to the whole of Newcastle. Recently, Morpeth has announced that it will become plastic bag free.
Nick said: “Well done Jesmond traders for taking this issue seriously – plastic bags damage the environment. We can all do our bit to find alternatives. The Government should do more to discourage single use carrier bags. They haven’t even carried out an impact assessment on the likely effect of a charge on plastic bags. I strongly support the Greening Jesmond campaign.”
