General Discussion

How's about if, IF, we do have a new supermarket a condition of it being sited in/near Dawlish is that it promises not to use plastic bags. PLUS it also promises to have big bins near its doors so that customers can deposit the excess packaging that supermarkets use on their fruit & veg etc. (Although better still of course would be that they didn't use the packaging in the first place).

In the meantime the rest of Dawlish can lead the way by re-using plastic bags already in existence and not offering/accepting new ones.

Any suggestions on how old supermarket plastic bags can be used up? Here's one: if you have a dog then instead of using specially bought poop bags use a plastic bag instead.

plaastic bags can be cut into strips then knitted or chrochet to make long lasting one if your unable to do this yourself I am sure an older member of the family or friend will be happy to oblige

Greenlight writes:
Any suggestions on how old supermarket plastic bags can be used up? Here's one: if you have a dog then instead of using specially bought poop bags use a plastic bag instead.
Get the dog owners to be more responsible first and then train them on how to pick up their dogs crap. Dogs lick their rear end then lick their owners face and the owners wonder why they come out in a rash. Dog owners should be refused NHS help

I've always had a dog - don't know that I've ever come out in a rash on my face.

What a good idea! If we do have to suffer a Tesco, lets make it be green!
I think that we should encourage a plastic bag free town!
I always take my own bag with me when have to pop into town to get a few bits.
I was very surprised with the new chip shop using paper ones - I've since taken mine back and used it again!

This is a great idea, and should be pushed forward regardless of whether Tesco get here. Modbury has already done it so why not us?
The thing about plastic bags, particularly at the coast, is not about litter or carbon footprints or whatever. The problem is that the wind inevitably blows them into the sea, whether they've been disposed of as litter or just left lying around. When in the sea Dolphins and other marine life mistake them for jelly fish, eat them and die. A recent check on Coryton beach (at a time of year when there are no tourists littering the beaches) retrieved 38 plastic bags washed up, ready to be washed back into the sea. This is pretty disgraceful and it would be a wonderful thing if Dawlish could be at the forefront of the campaign to ban the hideous things; also let's consider the wonderful publicity such a move would give the town, and the boost it would also give to the local economy.

So any thoughts as to how this might be pushed forward? Accepting of course that any local readers will now become dolphin minded in the disposal of their bags. Let's face it, who wants to kill a dolphin?

I would love to get involved in this but I am a fairly recent arrival in Dawlish and would hate to be accused of telling those who have been living here for much longer than that how to live their lives/what's good for Dawlish (see posting from Very Local on WMN thread).

You see - if we 'newcomers' get involved then we get accused of taking over and telling locals how to live their lives yet if we don't get involved then we can get accused of being stand offish and of not getting involved in the local community.

We can't win.

Moan over.

Ask a town cllr to raise issue at a Town Council meeting?

On a very basic level all you have to do is on the very next time you visit the beach; just take a single piece of litter to the nearest bin. If we all did it, what a difference that would make! Why not try that while we're waiting for the plastic free Dawlish to materialise?!

(But let's also not forget that as a prime objective).

Absolutely agree with you Bardwell.

Well, thank you, recent(ish)arrival,

I hope the rest of Dawlish residents, both new and old, can share your sentiments. And DO something!

Bardwell

Don't you worry recent arrival, you come here and say what you like. It is about the only thing you have got left in this country where you are not charged for it and that is "Freedom of speech".
There are a couple of fine ladies that have not been here long either, they are fighting like mad to stop development of the Sandy Lane playing fields. We have a council that has still got a letter of objection lying on the table to apply a village green status to the area. One of those councillors who is a conservative, told me that those that move in here want to change everything. On the contrary, they are trying to save something from further development,(Tesco for one has their radar on it). An open space is an open space and should not be developed at all, whoever wants to claim it as being for leisure purposes. How much do you have to place on an open space before it becomes so cluttered it no longer appears to be an open space?
And I haven't been here long either.

Here's a thought; should the big money makers at the Warren i.e. Pub owners, camp owners etc., contribute or take responsibility for cleaning the beaches between Red Rock and Dawlish. The amount of dumped litter in the Summer is unbelievable, and it all comes from the visitors. Shouldn't those who make the money from them pay something to put the place right again?

I don't think it's fair to blame the pub owners and the holiday camps for the littering of others. I expect they already do, it's called business rates!!

I've witnessed a lot of kids throwing their sweet/crisp paper on the floor and unless parents teach them in the home to throw rubbish in the bin it will always be a problem.

When I went shopping in M&S the other day they were giving their carrier bags away free, they are doing this until the beginning of February and after then you will have to pay for your bags. I think this is a great idea, if every shop started charging for their heavy duty shopping bag and discontinued the free ones more people would re-use their bags rather than keep paying.

I believe you have to pay for plastic bags at Trago Mills as well.

Log onto www.plasticbagfree.com

A very interesting website, but surely the underlying message must be how a small and unconsidered town can raise its profile to national levels. Modbury have done brilliantly out of their initiative. Why not Dawlish next and help both the town and also the environment; two bulls-eyes for the price of one?

Totally agree with you Bardwell. I think ideal organisations to 'run' with this should be Dawlish Chamber of Commerce/Dawlish Town Council. Get local paper behind issue? To get ball rolling why not some letters to Dawlish Gazette and Post?

Just some thoughts.

So are there any members of the Town Council that read these pages and would like to take up the challenge?
I believe that a councillor in Teignmouth is interested in the topic and keen to take it forward - I suppose we could ask if Dawlish could be included, or just press on with a local effort. Any takers?