About Us
We are a friendly bunch at Go Green Bags and we will work with you to develop exactly the product to meet your needs. Whether it’s a tiny promotional or a giant laundry bag, it will get the same level of attention. We do offer standard bags, but are also happy to go the extra mile to produce a product that is unique to you.
We genuinely care about the environment and apply social enterprise principles to all our business practices. We play an active part in our local communities, are proud sponsors of The Recyclists and are delighted to be supporters of Trees for Scotland.
Go Green Bags are based in Fife, Scotland and we have an office in The Midlands.We have regular meetings throughout the UK, so if you have an idea you would like to discuss, give us a call and we should be able to accommodate your needs.
Meet The Team
Liz Forrester
Liz is responsible for sales and will be your main point of contact – taking you through the process from initial enquiry to final product. She will help you with design and any necessary artwork – at no additional cost.
Liz is the creative one and is also responsible for marketing. You will meet her at exhibitions across the UK, and she’ll also be delighted to come along to events serving local communities.
Liz was a fitness trainer and spent some time living in Hong Kong, so really understands the Chinese culture – a key factor when dealing with our factories.
Anne Daly
Anne is responsible for strategy, numbers and information. Need an article or a talk on recyclable bags? Want to find out more about Eco Schools or how to raise funds? Anne can help you.
Plastic bag free communities? – learn from our experience.
Anne was an investment manager for 20 years and has extensive business experience. She is (still) a professional fundraising consultant and trainer and a member of the Institute of Fundraising. She plays an active part in the local community so can fully understand your needs.
Helen O'Brien
Helen provides customer support and helps keep us in order. She will help you with any queries and quotes and has particular responsibility for UK express orders.
Rachel Ravencroft
Rachel runs our office in the Midlands and is the main contact for clients in that region.
You can contact Rachel directly on 07967 589306 or email rachel@gogreenbags.co.uk
John Freeth (The Bagman)
John is the founder of Go Green Bags and has extensive experience running his own businesses. Having started the Company based on the Australian experience, it seems appropriate that he is now based in Australia – the wonders of the internet which make this possible.He is now focussing on logistics and new business ventures.
Awards
Our efforts have been recognised in a remarkably short space of time when last year we were Scottish finalists in the HSBC Start up stars and national semi finalists in the Barclays Green Leaders in Business awards.
The Go Green Bags Story
The Go Green Bag 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.
As a regular visitor to Australia John (The Bagman) had seen the Go Green bag campaign develop there and knew that something similar should work in the UK.
In 2006 he introduced the “Wee Green Poke” to Scotland and the rest, as they say, is history. Starting with farmers markets, local shops and schools, word soon spread and the classic Go Green Bags could be seen on High Streets around Scotland. Own logo was introduced and now businesses had the perfect combination of raising awareness and marketing themselves at the same time. And schools and voluntary groups could use the bags to raise funds.
Business continued to grow steadily by word of mouth and John met Anne and Liz who both became distributors for the bags. The whole campaign started to snowball with major supermarkets taking a stance on plastic bags and a general raising of awareness and willingness to get involved. Finding themselves more and more involved, Anne and Liz joined Go Green Bags full time in May 2008.
We have developed new products, have a growing customer base and increasingly are being asked to speak to groups and conferences to help them make changes. We are firmly committed to social responsibility and have strong ethical stance on our product and material sourcing.
Banning plastic bags is not the answer to our environmental problems –it is a start and a focus to provide a culture shift away from our disposable society.
In the last year we have seen the beginnings of a cultural change towards plastic bags and we applaud the measures that have been taken. However, we still have some way to go, and we look forward to working with our customers and the Community over the coming years.
