Write a commentIn advance of the new carrier bag levy being introduced in April Mayor of Newry and Mourne, Cllr John McArdle made a visit to Windsor Hill Primary School, one of the local schools taking part in Eco-Schools Bring a Bag Week.
The campaign, which runs from 04th-08th March, is organised by TIDY Northern Ireland with the support of the Department of the Environment’s Rethink Waste Initiative.
Visiting the School, The Mayor told the pupils of the importance of their efforts to reduce the usage of carrier bags
commenting: “For far too long we have taken for granted that we will get a free carrier bag at the supermarket checkout. Now that we will soon be charged for them it makes sense that we all get into the habit of bringing reusable bags along with us when we shop. That’s what this campaign is about and its great that Windsor Hill Primary are at the forefront of raising awareness of this issue”.
The aim of the ‘Bring a Bag Week Campaign’ is to help pupils minimise their usage of single use carrier bags and raise awareness of the ‘Carrier Bag Levy’ which will apply across Northern Ireland from 8th April 2013. In Northern Ireland we use around 250 million carrier bags a year; equivalent to around 140 for every man, woman and child living here. That’s simply too many and lots of these end up needlessly littering our beautiful landscape! Through the Bring a Bag Campaign schools throughout the country will be doing their part to decrease usage of single use carrier bags while encouraging ‘a bag habit’ by replacing the use of single use carrier bags with a bag for life habit.
Throughout the week schools will be completing curriculum based activities along with practical actions looking at the impact of carrier bags on the local environment and ways to help reduce the number of single use carrier bags used in Northern Ireland every year.
Environment Minister, Alex Attwood, whose department is supporting the Campaign and the introduction of the single use carrier bag levy in April said: "With just over a month to go before the five pence levy on carrier bags comes into force, it is encouraging to see the enthusiasm of children and young people in this initiative. As the custodians of tomorrow's environment they must take a lead in showing us all the importance of reusing carrier bags and greatly reducing our bag consumption.
"From 8 April 2013 it will become law for shops in Northern Ireland to charge at least five pence for each new single use carrier bag they supply to customers. Shoppers can help improve our environment and reinforce Northern Ireland’s clean and green credentials by remembering to bring their own bags when they shop.
"As the children involved in the Bring a Bag week campaign are learning, whether it’s a 'bag for life', a canvas bag, or just an ordinary plastic carrier bag, you'll be helping the environment by bringing your own bag shopping with you and reducing waste that ends up in landfill."
The Eco-Schools Programme is the world’s largest environmental education programme with the aim to make environmental awareness and action an intrinsic part of school life. Eco-Schools, sponsored by Airtricity, is a free to enter programme with real benefits for the school and the wider community. Eco-Schools work through a simple seven step process to implement behavioural change and study a range of topics, such as waste. For more information please visit www.eco-schoolsni.org. More detailed information on the Carrier Bag Levy is available at www.nidirect.gov.uk/baglevy
