LOCAL FOOD FESTIVAL
Saturday 29th November at the Baptist Church Halls, at the top of Broad Street.
For POSTERS click HERE and HERE. Turn Lyme Green has teamed up with Dorset County Council to bring you a Love Food Hate Waste event. It will be held at the Baptist Church Halls at the top of Broad Street. There will be stalls, a cafe and cookery events, demonstrations by local chefs and lots of great ideas to encourage you to look at food shopping and cooking in a different way.  So you CAN shop locally, save money, reduce waste, and feed yourself and your family with healthy nutritional food. Have a look at the ideas on their website by clicking HERE.

• WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:
  1. The COOK-BOOK – Makeover your Leftovers.
  We need your recipes and ideas for our local food scrapbook. What do you do in your family to stretch the budget, to cut down on food waste? Everyone has a top tip – tell us yours! We would particularly like some illustrations for the SCRAPBOOK, so you could make your recipe and take a photo or BETTER STILL, draw a picture!
  Print out a form HERE.
  2. The SEED EXCHANGE - A VITAL part of growing and using local food is the seeds you start it all off with. We have a Seed Exchange stall at the event, where you can bring packets of seeds for any vegetables you grow well, and an idea of how you do that, and swap notes and seeds with other local gardeners. Type your ideas into the box below, OR POST to (Ecodeveloper Ltd) No 35, Coombe Street, Lyme Regis.

Everyone is at it! These are crucial, local issues, and we are in good company. Tavistock is urging the community to spend their money in local shops, and have worked out just what that means to people and businesses locally – see what they are up to HERE. Sidmouth are taking up the case with a food fair on Thursday evening this week, showcasing some of the wonderful food you can buy from local producers. For more details click HERE, and to visit the Vision for Sidmouth site, click HERE.

• 11/11/08 ‘Recycle Now’ have some useful information in their web site - see HERE – and if you’re wondering what the producers of all this packaging, namely the supermarkets, are doing to help, see HERE. There is, however, growing concers that, as the bottom has dropped out of the recycled materials market, councils are finding it increasingly hard to store what they collect and have asked the government if they can use MOD land. As we have only six and a half years before all our landfill sites are full, we must all check the good we buy are packaging free.
  
• 04/11/08 We are proud to announce that the ‘Welcome to Lyme Regis’ animation film made by the children of St Michaels, with help from Biggerhouse Productions, is to be shown in a film festival. Following that, it will tour the country at various events with other films and music. See HERE for more details. It was a highly competitive selection process – so VERY well done to you all!      
• Some good news from Friends of the Earth:
  Together we’ve done it!
  A huge thank you to everyone who has supported us on our Big Ask campaign. Together we have finally got a strong Climate Change Law.
  Parliament voted on 28 October for the world-beating legislation after a 3 and a half year campaign by Friends of the Earth. The first of its kind in the world, the Law is a huge step in the fight against climate change.
  The Law commits the Government to 80 per cent cuts in the UK’s emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, including emissions from aviation and shipping, and with annual targets along the way to keep us on track. 
  This really is an astonishing achievement. And you helped make this happen – thank you!
  www.foe.co.uk
  
• For further information and updates about the Tesco campaign, please click HERE.
  
• Please read the information on Transition Towns and let us know what you think. Click on the Have Your Say button and let us have your response.

Are you interested in where your food comes from?

Support Your LOCAL FOOD!

- Local food producers – Mary BAGWELL of Sidmouth Trawlers

+ Catherine BROOMFIELD of Blacklake Farm

+ Ruth HANCOCK of Fresh & Green Veg Box

will be talking about local food issues at All Saints’ Hall
7pm on Thurs 27^th November – Taste some local produce – LIGHT SUPPER provided

PRIZE RAFFLE + STALLS + INFO

Vision Group for Sidmouth – see their site HERE.

Food Action Group

Besides local producers speaking and us having the chance to discuss local food issues, there’s going to be quite a considerable offering of food stalls from local producers and retailers, including Four Elms, Otterton Mill, Basterfield & Son of the-apiary.co.uk, preserve-makers Cold Harbour Farm, Fresh&Green Veg Box and several others.
The prizes on offer for the raffle are also quite something. Local businesses have been very generous, including Trump’s, the Dairy Shop, Ganesha’s, Barazza’s, Long’s the Butchers, the food-stall holders themselves and many more.
There will also be a few organisations represented, including Sidmouth Help Link, the Gardening Club and Fairtrade Devon.
And during the break, a light supper of homemade soup and bread from local ingredients will be served.
So, it should be a full and interesting evening. Hope to see you there!
To get there: All Saints’ Hall is on All Saints’ Road (opposite the Post Office) and behind the church. Bus stop is opposite; plenty of carparking; space for bikes.

 So could this be the future face of currency for Lyme traders? (Substitute Fowles for Paine and the Cobb for the Castle perhaps…)

• 
• 20/10/08 Could we have a Lyme Green Tesco? Having talked about it, done some research and slept on it, we have the following observatons to make:
• It’s important we consider the point of view of all sections of the community, particularly those who are going to be most affected by the wider economic situation, people who may lose their jobs, people who have one car or no car at all, young families, older people on fixed incomes. On their web site, under Corporate Social Responsibility Tesco do address many of the issues which are worrying people in Lyme, such as sympathetic signs, quieter lorries, working to enhance local communities. If Tesco can respect the very special community we have in Lyme Regis, they could be a force for good which will support and enhance our efforts and success so far, the Gig Club, Candles on the Cobb, Turn Lyme Green, and the fledgling Transition Town movement to name but a few.                
• 17/10/08 Our initial response to the news that Tesco have bought the town’s largest retail site from Woolworths:

The announcement that Tesco will open a store at the Woolworths store was a big suprise to almost everyone, and brought many views and opinions to my attention. Some positive and some negative.

• From a “Broad Street employment” viewpoint, Tesco is seemingly welcomed. They are a reliable employer, providing good training and benefits. We certainly don’t need an empty shop there!
• From a “car journeys” viewpoint, they are also reasonably seen as positive. All Tesco’s existing customers in Lyme don’t need to drive to Axminster any longer.
• They do have a fearsome reputation for ripping out the heart of a shopping street, leaving many other food retailers in trouble.

However (having reflected on it for a few days) I think the bigger issue is about the Local Food Network, and the threat that a grocer such as Tesco brings. The recent exhibition “Farming in the Lym Valley” showed how Lyme Regis and the surrounding area used to be supplied with fresh food and veg by a network of small family farms and market gardens. In the past decades, many of these have ‘changed use’ – but others are still going strong, and it is still possible to buy “Lyme Regis Honey”, “Monkton Wyld Lamb” and “Bridport Apples” in our local stores. Our Town Mill bakery is the envy of many and together with the Wet Fish shop and several other suppliers and producers, can make up a good percentage of our food needs.

It is probably a reflection of Lyme’s infrastructure and local-focus that has still allowed these to thrive, whilst big-stores have been kept out by the simple logistics of not having a decent site!

The question is; Can we carry on supporting these excellent local food sources, when Tesco will undoubtedly have a ’similar’ product 5p cheaper (and you get points too)?

If we continue to support our local shops and producers through the next difficult months, that is surely the best response to Tesco?

 Turn Lyme Green will continue to promote “Shopping Local” and encouraging the Local Food Network to thrive. As the business climate changes and people have to adapt, spending our limited grocery money on local produce from local traders keeps up to 80% of that money circulating here. Wheras spent in a supermarket such as Tesco it is more like 20%. The town then has to work hard to bring that money back via tourism..

Several initiatives are underway in this regard already, and more is being planned along with the Transition Towns group. If you would like to know more, please contact Mark on 444330 or Fran on 445078.

• 07/10/08 The Turn Lyme Green Vision statement is available HERE.

CLICK HERE for a draft list of the recycling possibilities in Lyme Regis.

• Please contact us if you have a recycling opportunity or requirement.
• For instance Lymenet shred confidential documents and offer bags of shredded paper for packing materials or hamster bedding!
• We have also found someone who collects green milk bottle tops and used postage stamps.
• You may be collecting something other people are throwing out or throwing something out someone else can use.

Further information:

The car park recycling facilities are often full when you go to use them. Please help to keep them moving by phoning the following numbers if they need to be emptied:

Cans & Bottles (West Dorset helpline): 01305 252217

Water butts can be purchased online through recyclenow.com and subsidised compost bins are also available.

At Ganesha health foods in Axminster you can take empty Ecover bottles for them to re-fill – washing up liquid, washing liquid, toilet cleaner etc.

For comments and further information please telephone:

01297 444570 or email Irene@lymenet.co.uk

THE PLASTIC PLAGUE

The bad news:

• Plastic bags are said to be the most common manmade item seen by sailors at sea.

• A UN report in June 2006 estimated that on every square mile of ocean there’s 46,000 pieces of plastic debris floating.

• Greenpeace says that at least 267 marine species are known to have suffered from getting entangled in or ingesting marine debris. Nearly 90 per cent of that debris is plastic.

• Marine wildlife eat plastic bags because they mistake them for jellyfish.  Once in their guts, the bags cause intestinal blockages – which are deadly.

• Plastic bags become serial killers because they do not break down in the environment.  Once a creature which has ingested a plastic bag dies, it decays at a much faster rate than the bag.  When the animal has decomposed, the bag is released back into the environment, more or less intact – and ready to be eaten by another misguided animal or bird.

• Plastic bags threaten urban environments as well as natural ones: plastic bags in drains were identified as major factors in the severe floods in Bangladesh in 1988 and 1998.  This resulted in a ban on plastic bags being impose there in 2002.  India also is discouraging the use of plastic bags nationwide.

• Plastic bags are costly in money terms too, both to produce and to clean up.

• Plastic bags are made from ethylene, a gas that occurs as a by-product of oil, gas and coal production (all non-renewables), which is transformed into chains of hydrogen and carbon molecules known as polymers or polymer resin. After being heated, shaped, and cooled, the plastic is ready to be flattened, sealed, punched, or printed on.

• Over 99 per cent of plastic bags cannot be recycled. The ones that are collected must be disposed of in landfill sites.

• There are three main types of plastic shopping bags:

• light filmy HDPE (high density polyethylene), mostly used in food outlets
• heavier LDPE (low density polyethylene) ones from clothing stores etc
• very thick glossy ones made from linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE).

The good news:

• Manufacturers don’t need to use plastic for carrier bags.  There are now an increasing number of degradable alternatives to plastic carrier bags, including corn and potato starch (which can even be composted).

• More and more countries, states and towns are taking action to ban plastic carrier bags, including Australia, Bangladesh,  Botswana, California, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Philippines,  Scotland, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Ireland; UK towns include Modbury, Hebden Bridge and Stroud. 

• For more information, click here

• 04/08/08

•   02/09/08 Transition Towns. There are moves afoot to explore the process of becoming involved in the Transition Town movement. You can read a  description of what’s involved by clicking THIS LINK. Would you take a few minutes to have a look, and then feed back to us what you think? You can either email me hannah@hannahlovegrove.co.uk or use the Have Your Say box provided below. Thanks!

• 01/09/08 Shocking scenes at the recycling facility at the Co-op in Bridport!

Change your shopping habits!

Lots of environmentally conscious companies are now giving away free carriers so you can create your own collection – and carry them with you at all times.

There are also very chic ones to buy – they make fab presents by the way – such as Sally Walton’s Carry-a-Bags, a handmade range made from vintage fabrics, with long or short handles.  Standard messages include MY BAG, MUM’S BAG and NO MORE PLASTIC BAGS – thank you.  Special promotional bags are made to order.  Click here for more details.

Mapperton House, home of the Earl and Countess of Sandwich (who are vigorously supporting Turn Lyme Green), is increasingly featuring recycled and sustainably made goods, including shoppers and dry-goods-bags made of old newspapers.  (In India, we’re told that all dry goods must now be packaged in these newspaper bags – no good for undie shopping on a wet day though…)  ‘Green’ bags and more will be on sale at Mapperton Christmas Fair, from 10am to 3pm, on December 16^th,.  Click here for more about Mapperton. 

Morsbags say they’re a ‘sociable and fun way to put an end to evil plastic bags’. This non-profit organisation encourages people to make reusable cloth bags out of old curtains, duvets etc to hand out for free to shoppers so that they’ll use them instead of plastic bags. So far over 160 ‘pods’ (groups of baggers!) have made over 4000 morsbags, potentially replacing over 2 million plastic bags! To see how easy it is, click here

The Coop stores in Plymouth and the South West were the first retailer to get behind Modbury, the pioneering town in Devon, which blazed the plastic-bag-free trail in May 2007.  They have produced a great Retailers Guide to Becoming Plastic Carrier Bag Free (which they have kindly given us to pass to all Lyme traders, too).  There’s a useful list of bag suppliers, which we reproduce below.

These bags:

• Minimise damage to the environment
• Don’t exploit human rights
• Aren’t made in sweat shops
• Are made from sustainable harvests

How to change your shopping habits www.biggreenswitch.co.uk/energy_saving/cut-carrier-bags

• For a printable sheet with details of  Turn Lyme Green recommended suppliers, click HERE. 
• If you are a business thinking of buying bags, please contact us. We can put you in touch with other traders using the same size and type of bag so you could benefit from better prices.
• If you would like to use the TLG logo. We can send you the necessary artwork.
• To contact us please email hannah@hannahlovegrove.co.uk 

• Our cotton bags are being provided by www.bags2keep.co.uk  – also the official Modbury suppliers, under Fair Trade mark, using unbleached cotton, and printed with water-based ink.
• The Traders of Modbury’s suggest these wholesalers - www.plasticbagfree.com/wholesalers.php
• Polybags - www.polybags.co.uk -a Biodegradable carrier – 1,000 for £72; 10,000 for £42.22 per 1,000.
• Global Trading UK - www.gtuk.co.uk  Tel 01772 334963. They supply the Co-operative Group with mater-bi home compostable cornstarch bags. Cost 6-8 p per bag. They can provide bio-degradable, cotton, jute bags,  and are involved in research into alternative bags.
• Affordable bio-degradable polymer – www.biority.com - supply bags to River Cottage shop in Axminster.
• www.jutexpo.co.uk -suppliers of biodegradable jute bags. Clients include Dorset County Council, and Hebden Bridge Bag Ladies.
• www.pickhemp.com - suppliers of organic hemp fabrics.
• www.greenfibres.co.uk - wholesale fabric.
• Cornstarch bags: Biobag Limited, tel: 01772 641 348, Biobags
• www.ecosac.net Tel:01630 639614
• String bags: Turtle Bags, tel: 01299 827092, Turtlebags
• Carrier Bag Shop, tel: 0870 777 7673

Shocked And Horrified of Lyme Regis takes WDDC to task over rubbish. See the article HERE.

The animation film made by the pupils if St Michael’s primary school with the help of Biggerhouse Productions can be seen HERE.

Also see a short film about the making of the animation made by Woodroffe student Dan Blaker at St Michael’s Primary School HERE. 

In her email, teacher Sue Watterson said:

A recent Western Morning News article looked at all the climate change and environmental action groups in the South West – read it HERE. 

The Lyme News covered the Co-op’s chenge to more bag-freedom – read it HERE.

The Marshwood Vale magazine commented in it’s February editorial.

Read the latest from our press desk HERE, and from the Bridport News HERE.

We have received wide press coverage of our campaign - many of the articles can be seen HERE.

Listen to the discussion at the Official Launch of TURN LYME GREEN  which took place on 8th November at the Marine Theatre.

See our award-winning town crier Phil Street in action on 10^th November at the GREAT GREEN BAG GIVEAWAY!  

Many thanks to everyone for their support on the day. We are all delighted that so many of you feel that this is an important issue, and have been so willing to put your words into action!

For a picture of Oliver Letwin (MP), Prof. Sir Ghillean Prance (our patron), Town Crier Phil Street and Candida Blaker, outside our campaign headquarters CLICK HERE!

PC Richard Winward with our Community Support Officer.

Listen to the Friday Night Live discussions with Candida Blaker (2nd November) and Sarah Stacey (26th october). Our esteemed leader Candida Blaker has finally bowed to public pressure and had her picture taken by the Western Morning News. Click HERE!

(Thanks to all at Lyme Regis Radio for these clips.)

See our award-winning town crier Phil Street in action on 10^th November at the GREAT GREEN BAG GIVEAWAY!

On Sunday 23^rd Sept there was an event in Woodmead Halls -  Crochet your own CarryBag  – from recycled plastic bags at Textile Day, part of Lyme Regis Artfest (lymeregisartsfest.com). To see a picture from this event click here !

On Tuesday 9th October, Mukti Mitchell visited Lyme Regis as part of his Low carbon Lifestyle Tour and added his support to our campaign. To see a video click here and a picture click here

We are grateful to all the many shops and businesses, who have pledged their support for the campaign.

For a full list of traders, businesses and groups click HERE . Those who have pledged their support are highlighted in green. We are delighted with the response!

If you would like your business to TURN GREEN, please get in touch. Details can be found on the ‘Pledge your support’ page.

HELP FREE LYME REGIS FROM PLASTIC CARRIER BAGS

We use them for an average of 12 minutes – but their lethal effects last between 15 and 1000 years.

Every year, British shoppers get through about 10 billion plastic bags.  And every year, around 2 million dolphins, seals, seabirds, turtles and whales are killed by plastic bags in our seas. 

On land, plastic bags can trap birds and block drains.  They can disable cars and, if animals eat them, the toxic waste can get into your food.

But it’s simple to stop the plastic bag carnage – just join the Bag Crowd, the Basket Brigade or the BackPackers!  Or make your own… (we tell you how).  And of course spend your money with retailers who have stopped giving out plastic carriers.

On this site, you’ll find details of the growing number of Lyme traders who’ve joined the campaign, a list of upcoming TurnLymeGreen events, a petition to sign – and space for you to add your own ideas. 

Please join us.

 CELEBRATING LYME TURNING GREEN

On Saturday 5^th July Turn Lyme Green will be hosting events in the town in celebration of its achievements. Over 90% of Local Traders are now committed to the campaign and Lyme is handing out very few carrier bags, and will continue to encourage locals and tourists to Turn Lyme Green and Keep it Clean.

 A schedule of events for the 5^th July is as follows:

11am – Turn Lyme Green will be celebrating outside Alice’s Bear Shop in Broad Street. They will be speaking about their achievements to date, and what plans are for the future. There will also be some of our ‘Silver Greens’ (older’ Lyme residents) speaking about times before the’ carrier bag’.

11am – 3pm – Sew-in at the Shelters. A group of sewers (The Bag Ladies) will be demonstrating how to make your own cloth bag, with public participation.

11am-12 midday  –  Lyme Youth Theatre will be putting on several performances for the public, including a Poem especially written for today’s event, this will take place also at the Shelters.

Traders will be taking part in the day by decorating their shop windows on a GREEN THEME, so look out for those displays. Turn Lyme Green would love to see as many supporters as they can on the day to help them celebrate, and continue to participate in their efforts to look after their environment.

• 09/06/08

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-op-mckibben11-2008may11,0,2392815.storyThen if you feel you inclined, have a look at this site – http://www.350.org/4/

• if you take a carrier bag of any kind, take responsibility for it’s eventual disposal.
  • encourage the town and district councils to create local composting facilities where people can take compostable waste to be transformed into a rescource for their gardens and allotments. (We need to produce more local food anyway.)
  • re-use plastic bags as many times as possible. Then take them to a recycling facility, such as the one provided by the Co-op in Lyme Regis.
  • legislate to make all plastics bio-degradeable over time.

  P.S. Whilst using the recycling facility in the Charmouth Road car park today, we saw a man taking garden rubbish out of his car and leaving it behind the recycling bins in black plastic bags. This is fly tipping, and is illegal. We all have to pay the council to clear his rubbish up for him. 

   

  20/04/08

 We are planning an event later in the year at which we hope to announce that Lyme Regis can be officially described as a plastic bag free town. In the meantime, don’t forget to drop in to Charmouth’s bag-free event this coming Saturday 26th.

17/03/08

4RLYMEREGIS – details of the Easter Saturday event available here. It was a great success, thanks to all who gave their support.

We are sad to announce the demise of our lovely sign (see picture above) in the Great Blow of 2008. Thanks to Hugh Dunford-Wood for making it.

07/03/08

The ‘Bag Freedom Day’ at the Marine Theatre on Saturday 22nd March is taking shape. There will be activities around the town, with all kinds of stalls and the ever-popular Sew-In at the Marine Theatre, where you can:

• see a wormery
• make yourself a bag
• find out what the Environment Group is up to
• find local recycling information
• learn about home composting
• buy a cake
• and lots more

Around the town there will be on-street performances from the Lyme Youth Theatre and the Taiko Drummers. Watch this space for more information about times and places.

27/02/08

This is the week our Co-op goes plastic bag free – a big green pat on the back to Iain Ferguson and his team, and to the manager and staff at the Co-op. Please give them all your support and make that extra staff training worth while! The new system will be fully operational from 10th March. If you want to buy a trolley bag, go to the Axminster branch.

Hebden Bridge Co-op has been bag-free for a few months, and Eileen from the Countryside Foundation for Education who has an office there said, ‘Everyone around here takes it very seriously; even our tiny village farm shop has its own bags made which we all use.’

The Daily Mail has taken up the cause – read their article HERE. And look out for ways you can interact with their campaign, petitions etc.

17/02/08

Candida was interviewed for BBC Dorset. Read the article and listen to the interview here. 

13/02/08 

These satistics are from MCAs January 2008 report, “A growing concern” (www.mca.org.uk)

• 94% of UK businesses put climate change in their top ten priorities
• 40% believe that reducing their carbon footprint is an important part of their brand
• 25% businesses have made their suppliers reduce their carbon footprint

11/02/08

FYI – we are aiming for 22nd March – Easter Saturday – as BAG FREEDOM! We’ll have a series of events and activities and all are welcome. More info to come. 

This has arrived from WRAP - a briefing document outlining the latest issues within the retail industry on the various alternatives to plastic bags. (Please don’t be put off by the title – it’s called Biopolymer Packaging in the UK Grocery Market…… )

Congratulations to TISBURY!

With the support of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, Tisbury have Binned The Bag. See here.

10/02/08

The latest list of traders and businesses in Lyme who support the campaign is now predominantely GREEN. (Check it out!) Traders and Businesses – please keep the support coming! If your name on the list isn’t green, let us know if you would like it to be, OR (and don’t be shy) why you feel happier staying black. We need to take account of all points of view. And by the way, it’s mostly the cafes and restaurants - anyone know why?

04/02/08

The campaign is on course to promote Lyme Regis as a plastic-bag free town by Easter this year! We will keep you posted with events and NEWS! In the meantime, don’t put your old bags into landfill – when you have reused them to destruction, save them for us. We have a use for them. All will become clear at the Woodroffe Green Day on Thursday 7th Feb….

The Traders Evening on 28th January, hosted by the Traders Association, with Turn Lyme Green and special guest speakers Iain Ferguson (Co-op Packaging) and John Clarkson (Global Trading UK Ltd) was a great success. A question and answer session provoked an interesting debate, demonstrating that the issue isn’t as simple as banning plastic bags but has the ‘triple bottom line’ message at its core –  reduce, re-use, and recycle.

PICTURES of the event:

(L-R: Candida, Hannah, Colin, John and Iain.)

(L-R: Sally (Mayor) Iain, John, Hannah, Candida)

(Some of the 50 traders and their representatives who attended the evening)

For press coverage of the event, click here.

Lyme Regis Radio kindly covered the event for us too. You can hear it HERE.

03/01/08 – Happy New Year!

‘You & Yours’ (Radio 4 Thursday 3rd January 2008). The programme has a long article about plastics in the marine environment. To listen to the programme, click HERE. The marine plastics article starts 27 minutes 30 seconds in. (Use the forward/backward arrows top left of the page to select the time.) And don’t forget to turn your speakers on….

The programme describes very clearly the ‘hefty toxic burden’ of small plastic particles and the toxins released in the marine environment, as discovered by Dr Richard Thompson of Plymouth University. Do listen to Marcia Gigg of the British Plastics Federation response to Tom Heep’s questions. Apparently it’s our fault for dropping litter - laughable if it wasn’t so tragic! And listen to Dr Richard Thompson’s suggestions towards the end for things consumers can do.

Twelfth Night approaches – when you’ve finished with your Christmas tree LRTC have agreed to do chipping of resident’s Christmas trees - they will collect daily from Woodmead / Hill Road car park for 2 weeks from 7^th January. They’ll then compost it. For  picture of the ‘Trees On The Bus’ CLICK HERE!

Love food hate waste? Have a look at their site HERE.

20/12/07 – If you are the sort of person who likes the balanced view, here are 14 pages of plastic pros and cons: For the British Polythene Industries (BPI) Environmental Facts document, click HERE.For a synopsis from the Packaging Knowledge website, click HERE.

20/12/07 –  for a general TLG update see HERE.

22/11/07 – We are working with various trades associations to develop a strategy to help Lyme Regis go bag free.  We had a meeting with the Traders Association last week and the next event will be an evening in early January at the Woodmead Halls to which all businesses will be invited. We hope to have representatives from some of the bag suppliers available to show their products and take your questions. Please keep looking in the press and on this site for further informaton about the date for this meeting.

15/11/07 – There are 3 venues at which residents can claim their free Turn Lyme Green bag if they missed the giveaway at the launch. They are:Acorn (Broad Street), LymeNet (St Michael’s Business Centre, Church Street) and Staples Stores (Staples Terrace). Claim them until next weekend – 25th November. One bag per household. Non-residents can purchase bags from Tourist Information Centre for £1.99. 

14/11/07 - All of London’s councils have agreed on a ban on plastic bags following a public consultation. See the news piece HERE.Sainsbury’s have today announced they are encouraging customers to re-use their plastic carrier bags. They are also giving a free ‘bag for life’ to customers. Turn Lyme Green feel this is a sideways step. A plastic bag is not a bag for life. We need to vastly reduce the amount of plastic coming into the system and recycle the plastic we have here already.07/11/07 - Read the Western Morning News  article HERE.

29/10/07 – Congratulations to Jason Dickins, the Woodroffe Student who designed the campaign logo for the bag. See the winning design HERE.

The campaign now has a shop window at 35 Coombe Street, Lyme Regis, where you can see examples of plastic-free shopping bags and food packaging, plus lots of other information. The shop front has been loaned to the campaign by Ecodeveloper Ltd.

• 28/04/08

All the plastic bags ever made are still with us. The press recently drew everyone’s attention to the fact that bio-degradeable or home compostable bags release greenhouse gasses when they break down in landfill. This is true, but it is not an excuse to do nothing. It’s an opportunity to do twice as much: