Since December 2008 East Hampshire District Council's have been running a plastic bag free initiative which started in the parish of Whitehill and Bordon. Since then the scheme has also been run in East Meon, Bentley, Medstead and Binsted and now it has come to Grayshott as part of the Greening Grayshott campaign which joined in with the first international Plastic Bag Free day on the 12th September.

As a nation we are issued with around 13 billion plastic bags each year and we make use of them for an average of only 12 minutes before they are discarded. Those that end up on the land as litter, and this is at least 200 million bags a year in the UK, are costly not only in terms of clearance charges but also pose a danger to foraging animals. Similarly the vast majority of rubbish in the seas is plastic and has come from the land. Each year it results in the deaths of many birds, seals, turtles and whales when they ingest the debris or are entangled in it.

This scheme champions not only the use of re-usable bags but also encourages people to shop locally. The specially designed bags say 'Bags of enthusiasm for local shops' on one side and 'Better bag, Better place, Better buy local' on the reverse and have been produced in a Fairtrade accredited, ethically audited, carbon neutral factory.

In early November households in the parish will receive a letter (right) giving a list of all the participating stores and a slip to take along and exchange for a cotton bag. These will be available between 14th and 28th November. In this way we hope all the households in the parish will collect a bag which they will continue to use in place of plastic ones.