Author: simon
VentBag Gets Council Funding - Hurrah!
Tuesday, 22nd January, 2008 at 1:41 pm, Isle of Wight
We all know that there’s a lot of bad talk about the council at the moment over their proposals to alter the school structures - well don’t be down on them too much.
Joe Duckworth, Chief Exec of the council, told VentnorBlog that the council will be putting some money behind the scheme to make Ventnor plastic bag free, VentBag, as part of their Eco-Island campaign to help it to flourish.
Joe’s in a perfect position to talk to the upper echelons of the large shops and national-chains on the Island, persuading them to come into the fold and stop handing out more plastic bags.
There’s many interesting discussions going on around the council, including getting the message across to the visitors coming to the Island.
It’s all very exciting and hats off to those who’ve been involved behind the scenes in making this work.
Employment opportunities?
It seems like there’s a perfect opportunity for the some of the council funding going towards the creation of the VentBags.
We know that the team behind VentBag are hard at work producing loads of bags (don’t forget they’ll be in the window of Ventnor’s RNLI on Saturday), but given the whole Island could need them, how about offering makers of the bag a payment for each bag they produce?
Not only will the Island be gaining more sustainable bags, but those unable to find work will be able to contribute, lifting their spirit in the process, knowing that they’re making a positive contribution.
Mr Duckworth, resplendent with
Conservation, Island-wide, Politics, Shopping, Ventnor
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January 22nd, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Excellant news, well done Ventbag
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Yes great news
January 22nd, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Well deserved support and exciting news!
Angie has pushed against the tide and is making headway, demonstrating one of our favourite quotes:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead, anthropologist, 1901-1978
(see http://www.aldermoor-farm.co.uk/TransitionIslandConcepts.htm)
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Thanks Dave, we are very pleased that it is going so well. Thank goodness we have such a strong, hard working Ventbag team who have put in so much time and effort since we started this project, there is no way just one or two people would have been able to do this on their own. The publicity and support we have been given by Ventnor Blog has made all the difference and the other media attention we have received as a result of being on VB.
January 25th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
A major step toward banning plastic bags on the island is to approach the supermarkets and convince them to stop supplying them because until they do, we will never get rid of them. A colleague and I have some ideas we are hoping to put before the managers at a meeting but we would therefore like your permission to refer to the good work you are doing, is that ok?
Derek Bean
January 25th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
It’s fine in our book that you can use anything that we have on VentnorBlog to support your discussion with your manager to stop plastic bags.
Best to contact VentBag directly to get the full low-down from them
January 25th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Derek, if there is anything we (Ventbag) can do to help please get in touch. Please feel free to use any of the information on the Ventbag site. We are going to put together an information pack for any individuals or towns that want to help cut the use of plastic carrier bags. Betapack in Rookley are awaiting the arrival of 25,000 cornstarch carrier bags which can be composted. Energy is still used in the production of these bags and of course the corn has to be grown to produce them, if they become too popular it will cut down on the amount of land available for food production.