was born out of despair at the sight of plastic bags stuck in trees, strangled and suffocated wildlife, blocked roadside drains and so many other sightings of plastic bags discarded where they are causing damage to the environment and hazards to both humans and wildlife. I am a frequent visitor to Australia and could see the action being taken there to combat this menace and 2 years ago decided it was time for us to take action here in the UK.
So what are we suggesting? Well not the end of plastic, however wonderful that would be - no what we suggest is, as a first step let's all carry a shopping bag. Obviously this should be a cheap bag that is re-usable and looks good. That is where we come in!!
By encouraging consumers to use and re-use Go Green Bags and supporting policies to phase out the plastic carrier bag completely, the environment for our children and future generations will be brighter and cleaner. We aim to help retailers, communities and individuals to reduce their use of plastic check-out bags by providing an alternative that is cheap but good looking.
Doing away with single use polyethylene bags is easier than you think.
Please join our campaign.
John –The Bagman bagman@gogreenbags.com
Hi – I’m the bagman – started this campaign in 2005 because of all the plastic bags in the streets and countryside, but not knowing what to do about it. I heard about the Green Bag initiative in South Australia and was lucky enough to get some of their bags. Once the research was done to find an ethical company for making the bags I started to ask my local farm shops if they would like them – did they ever!!
So now the whole thing has snowballed on me – it’s grown unbelievably in such a short time – and not down to my huge skills as a marketing man (didn’t do any!) – not down to my salesmanship (I’m a lousy seller) and certainly not down to my tremendously organised lifestyle – anybody around me will tell you that I am a hyper-active crazy sort of guy. So what is it down to…. you – YOU and YOU and YOU. This type of bag, which is low cost, where you can use it for 2 years or more, then recycle it seems to be what you are looking for. You, as clients tell me where to find my next seller of Go Green Bag.
I have developed the “Social Contract” idea for sellers of the bags – I tell small businesses that it is a social contract – you buy the bag complete with your logo and company info on the side, you stock them instead of those throwaway thin plastic bags – but it is not a revenue stream – your customers buy the bag and by way of fulfilling their side of the social contract they carry the bag up and down the High Streets of Britain advertising your establishment on the way. Now I think that is fair and just. At the end of its use – it goes into the recycling bin. Great – just like nature – everything in nature recycles somehow.
I am lucky to be supported by so many wonderful people – some of whom have joined me at Go Green Bags.
Liz Forrester, Sales
liz@gogreenbags.co.uk
T: 01334 849363
Hi There! I’m Liz and I run the Sales team for Go Green Bags.
I met John the Bagman through my eleven year old son who wanted to buy some recyclable bags for his business venture, which is recycling around our local town on his bike.
I became more involved with Go Green Bags because this company actually cares about the environment. We’re a sociable bunch all working hard to do our bit for our planet and if we are taking a step in the right direction in providing your community, whether it be local or online, with the choice of going ‘plastic bag free’ then that’s all it takes to make us happy.
Plastic bags (my pet hate in life, mainly because they are so ugly), are the main culprit in filling up our landfills, killing wildlife and littering our beautiful landscape.
Landfills are filling up faster than the time it takes to fill a Smart car up with fuel! Regular plastic bags take eons to decompose (debatable if they really do) and actually help preserve what’s inside. Even old fruit scraps won’t decompose if discarded inside a plastic bag!
Say it on the side of a bag!
Everybody needs a bag; for shopping, to carry books in, for taking to the gym, the list is endless.
It’s your choice to make a green statement to your customers with the message you want to get across, whether it be your company logo or simply a statement.
Please call me on 01334 849363 or email: liz@gogreenbags.co.uk if want to know more about Go Green Bags.
Anne Daly,
Marketing
anne@gogreenbags.co.uk
I recently joined Go Green bags after being a re-seller for around a year. I live in Linlithgow, a lovely historic town, which in common with many others is blighted by plastic strewn in hedgerows, and around our loch and canal. We have a number of initiatives going on in our town to try and protect our heritage, including shortly achieving “Cittaslow” status.
We are already a Fair Trade town, have an organisation known as Burgh Beautiful (improving the appearance of the town) and we are at the very early stages of going “plastic bag free”.
I share my home with the “Pink Bag girl “–my teenage daughter who was the inspiration behind our pink green bag – a trendier design for the younger market. So if you have an idea for a bag, that you think will appeal to a particular market segment, tell us about it. And don’t forget, with our bespoke bags, we can design any shape or form that you would like.
I’m co-ordinating a number of marketing initiatives, so if you have something that might be of interest, please get in touch. We would love to hear your stories.
- Are you setting up a “plastic bag free” initiative? We can help with advice and put you in touch with others who are well down the route.
Go Green Bags are ideal for marketing and fundraising initiatives.
- If you would like to use our bags for fundraising or your eco schools programme, I can help you with that.
Jodie De Pascali, Agent
Greetings Green People, it is your London Bag Lady here.
Guess what!! San Francisco’s non bio plastic bag ban is now in place. So that adds to the list of Modbury, Leaf Rapids (North America), South Africa, Bombay (after finding in the flood the bags block all the drains which resulted in such loss of human life), Malta, Bhutan, the few towns in Australia and Africa , and many more, that have made the move to go 'Bag Free'. Not to mention Hong Kong and 'No Plastic Bag Day' once a month, Beijing's 'Bye bye throw away culture week' and countless other countries making an international statement. Ok, so the UK has taken some monumental steps in the last 6-12 months but we still have a way to go. Pat on the back so far!! Some of these countries are giving out big fines to shop owners and shoppers if you are caught using plastic bags. Ok this is extreme when we are all capable of doing a good thing. Whatever works I say.
So what is taking us so long, where are all our plastic bag free towns in the UK?? Modbury being the example to follow! There is the on going debate of what bags we should use instead. Of course we support our Go Green Bags but let me tell you why. We have looked at getting in Cotton bags but we were distressed by the pollution the cotton industry is responsible for. Not to mention the use of water in drought stricken areas of farming. Organic cotton would be an option though it still comes with issues of water use and price and in some cases inappropriate labour.
Yes the Go Green Bags are a petroleum product and we do not debate that however it allows us to use fewer, reuse and the recycling process is, by far, more energy efficient. They are economical and washable therefore hygienic without little crawlies. They allow each of us to take part in this campaign to rid the country of single use plastic bags. On average we use 10 for 1 weeks shopping at the grocery store. I only need 4 for the same amount of groceries. As for paper bags, the recycling process still uses our energy sources and hell of a lot of it. Paper bags can only be reused so many times and they are kaput!! (Technical term)
Why don't you as an individual make a move, design a bag, order 1000 to start and sell them on to you fellow community. Start your town moving into the right direction.
Ciao Jodie
Wendy Beeton, Agent
I’m Wendy and I live in a small village in Nottinghamshire with my partner John. We are both very much into 'green' issues, growing our own veg, making our own compost and recycling everything we possibly can.
Having worked in local government for many years I suddenly decided that I was going to change direction and do something (a) that interested me and (b) made a difference. I trained as an holistic therapist and now divide my time between helping others feel better as a result of my treatments and trying to make people aware of the consequences our actions have on the planet. Hence my involvement with Go Green Bags.
Rachel Ravencroft, Agent
This is Rachel here. In-between working part-time as a fitness instructor, training for competitions and looking after my three children, I also manage to find time to spread the word on the Go Green Bags Campaign.
I really like the bags, think they look great and can’t believe they last for so long…..and even more amazing, I can stick them in the washing machine!
Go Green Bags are great sellers. Because I visit a lot of schools all the girls see the pink bags and want one, let’s have one for the boys!
Our Factory
As is the case with most bags, our bags are manufactured in China, in an ethical factory, personally chosen and regularly inspected directly by us. The factory is a co-operative and doesn’t employ anyone under age 16.
As we want to be as environmental as possible we ship the bags to the UK. This means it will take around 12 weeks in total for them to reach you.
Please go to our ‘contact us’ page to send us a message and we can put you in touch with an agent in your area.
