Plastic bags purge in book town

Literary festival town Hay-on-Wye is the latest to want to make the plastic bag a thing of the past.

Shoppers are now being urged to use their own bags, and many retailers have stocked up on compostable versions.

But while some in the Powys border town embrace change for green and economic reasons, others say it has been rushed and will be difficult to abide by.

Other places, such as Llandysilio in Pembrokeshire, and Newport are also among those aiming to banish the bags.

Officials say the Hay-on-Wye campaign is backed by the chamber of commerce and the majority of the town's shopkeepers.

Businesses supporting it have their names listed on the End of Plastic Bags campaign website.

Hay has hosted one of the UK's best-known literary festivals since 1988, and each year the town welcomes the great and the good from the book world and beyond, ranging from Doris Lessing and Martin Amis to Bill Clinton, Gordon Brown and Al Gore.

But a visit proved it was not difficult to find those opposed to the plastic purge among permanent residents.

One who will not be found in the online list is high street butcher Chris Gibbons, who described the campaign as "a lot of rubbish".

It's going to be difficult for the campaigners to achieve what they're trying for but hopefully in the long term people will get used to the change Mickey Day

He said ordinary plastic bags were essential for his business and he would continue to order them.

"Our bags can carry 15-20lbs in weight. But if you put a similar weight into one of the bio-bags they have been distributing the handles snap," explained Mr Gibbons.

"You wouldn't get a turkey in them.

"The campaigners have been coming around telling everyone to get these new bags in, but I don't think they have really thought about it

"I pay business rates - who are they to tell me what to do?"

Mr Gibbons said he had ordered some of the bio-bags and would use them if his customers requested them.

Ethically-produced

Market grocer Jason Beckett is in favour, but said traders could have been given more time to make the change.

"I've only known about it for six weeks. The town should've been given six months.

"But most people in the town seem happy about it and everyone's been saving their plastic bags to use them again."

Flow clothes shop owner Mickey Day said the anti-plastic movement fitted well with the ethos of his store, which sells ethically-produced garments.

"We finished using plastic bags in the summer because there is no need to use them anymore," he said.

"We noticed over the last 12 months that our customers were using plastic bags far less and sometimes wouldn't even want one of our paper ones.

I would totally support it because I think plastic bags are a complete nuisance Hayley Sharp

"It's going to be difficult for the campaigners to achieve what they're trying for but hopefully in the long term people will get used to the change."

Other shopkeepers worried that their customers would forget to bring their own bags and that they might resent having to pay extra for more eco-friendly carriers once plastic was banished.

However, shoppers in the town seemed agreed that the extinction of the plastic bag could only be good for Hay and the environment in general.

"I would totally support it because I think plastic bags are a complete nuisance," said Hayley Sharp, from the nearby town of Talgarth.

"A friend of mine bought me a foldaway bag which you can clip on to your belt or handbag and it's proved very useful. It's a strong bag and I've shoved all sorts of stuff in there. They are now being sold in shops in the town."

Local vet Steven Baird and his friend from north Yorkshire Matt Yarnall pointed out that discarded bags were often dangerous to wildlife.

"All it takes is a bit of planning and eventually remembering to bring out a bag when you go shopping will become part of your routine," said Mr Baird.