Bagman's Blog,

Dear Bloggers

I have a photo of our Banchory bag which went down a ‘storm’ literally as I think they had a bit of bad weather at their Banchory Day when they handed out their foldable bag for all the local residents. Thank you to everyone at Banchory who supported our campaign to help reduce the use of plastic bags.

Another thanks has to go out to Irene at The Christmas Shop in St Andrews who very kindly provided us with a magnificent back-drop for our Christmas stock bags campaign. Her shop is loaded with lots of Christmas gift ideas and beautiful locally made decorations.

Yes, at last we have some brand new Christmas stock bags for sale.


They will be online very soon for you to order just in time for the Christmas season.




The bags are very reasonably priced and I’m sure you will find them a great gift for any ‘greenie’ as they say ‘I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas’ and a Kids Santa sack which says, ‘Dear Santa, I’ve been very good and green. Please leave my presents in my reusable bag under the tree!’


Well – its July 9 and we have been terrible with our Blog – but hey it happens – so this weekend our very own London Baglady (Jodie) came to Scotland – burr was she and Daniel cold – but to give Daniel his due – he had a dip in Loch Ness – we wanted him to give a green bag to ‘Nessie’ but she was too cold as well –

Seriously folks we have to thank you, our clients in Scotland for putting our name forward for the HSBC Star Start-Up Awards – we are one of the 20 finalists for Scotland – Liz has fingers and toes crossed cos if we make the final 10 we will be going to London in October – she will get to wear a party frock!!

So many of you small and large companies have ordered bags there is not enough room to thank you for supporting us – but I have to say a very special thank you to Franco Margiotta in Edinburgh for his follow up order, to the Falkirk Wheel for their follow-up order and to The Neem Tree Trust for their follow-up order. That’s right 3 follow-up orders inside 8 weeks – so good – so heartening for all the troops – that’s all from me the Bagman.

It’s official….. Go Green Bags have been named a semi-finalist in the Barclays Commercial Bank Green Leaders in Business Awards!! Perhaps this might be another new frock for Liz….I’m keeping everything crossed now!

Everyone here at go Green Bags are so excited about all the good news and delighted that we’re being recognised for all our hard work too….especially the Bagman’s all night driving to get orders delivered on time. If you happen to see him on the motorway, give him a toot to keep him going please…….Liz

This week we’re going to BLOG your mind with all our fresh and exciting news.

Firstly, I hope you’ll have noticed that we’ve got a new look website. We’ve all been working so hard on getting our information updated so that it’s easier for you to look around our site and find exactly what you’re looking for with ease. If you’ve got any comments or suggestions about our site please let us know as we’re always open to suggestions and welcome both good and bad comments.

Liz who was one of our agents, is now looking after the Sales team so should you want to order any stock bags, own-logo bags or have any sales queries, please contact Liz directly on our NEW office number 01334 849363 or email bags@gogreenbags.co.uk.

Anne who recently joined Go Green Bags is in charge of Marketing and all new agents. You can get hold of Anne (not literally) on 01506 200533 or anne@gogreenbags.co.uk. They both look forward to meeting new and past customers.

John the Original Bagman is still around here somewhere, but he’s taking a well earned rest at the back of the class. You can still get hold of him at bagman@gogreenbags.com

We’ve also been busy behind the scenes welcoming our new agents onboard. Wendy and Rachel have joined Go Green Bags and they’re in the Midlands, so if you’re in that area you can get in touch with them directly. Have a look at our ‘About Us’ page where you will find all our details and even be able to see our ugly mug-shots! If you think that you’d be a good Go Green agent, please send us an email all about yourself and why you’d like to join us.

The HOT BAG OF THE MONTH is the Eco-School bag.

There are so many schools out there that are aiming to gain a Green Flag. If you are one of those schools or have children at a school, it’s worth reading about this campaign where you can find out all about designing your own bag as a fund-raising project that’s fun and gets the whole school involved. Start now for the delivery in time for the new term.

We were busy in London a few weekends ago at the London UK Aware Exhibition. It was great to meet all the other exhibitors and if you happened to meet either Jodie, Liz or John, thank you for coming to say hello and we look forward to meeting you at the next event.

Don’t forget we have a new sales telephone number and email so make sure you remember it when re-ordering your stock bags. t: 01334 849363
e: bags@gogreenbags.co.uk

13 April – Next weekend we will be at the Scottish National Party Conference in Edinburgh waving their yellow bags – and if the BBC wishes to interview us again; after the last conference/exhibition when the BBC used our bags and stand as their backdrop, well we guess that we can stand the fame!! Yeah! See you there if you support the SNP.

10 April - Want To Become A Plastic Bag Free Town? Another month goes by and what an exciting month it was for us at Go Green Bags, not only because both Liz and I happened to be visiting Australia at the same time, but also because we’ve had such a great response to the imminent bill to ‘ban the plastic bag’ from so many people all around the country.

One town in Aberdeenshire particularly made headlines with their campaign to become a ‘plastic bag free town’. Banchory, a beautiful town which sits on the banks of the River Dee have set up a campaign which was started and run by local resident, Christina Brown. Christina started her campaign in January this year, she has written weekly blogs about her ups and downs throughout the campaign, which you can read all about here.

The Banchory Bag Campaign has chosen Go Green Bags to produce their bag which they will be giving away to local residents of Banchory, they’ve had a great response from sponsors who have helped to finance the bag and we’re sure that the bag will be a huge success.

There are many towns all over the UK who, like Banchory are setting a great example to the rest of the world. If you have an interest or know of someone who would like to start such a campaign to join other ‘plastic bag free’ towns, I’m sure Christina would be happy to help with advice on where to start. Go Green Bags are and will continue to be proud to support such great causes. Please contact us, we will help all we can.

A Double Recycling Compost Bags - One new bag that we have recently produced for one of our customers and which we all at Go Green Bags think is a great initiative is a Compost Bag! The idea is that the village/town has a central composter. Each household will have a composting bag which they take to the central composter when full of household/garden composting waste. They are then able to take away ready made compost…. handy for the plants and garden. This truly is a recycle bag. The bag is larger than our standard size bag and has longer handles, it needs to be to carry such waste, but our bags are strong enough for that, and don’t forget our bags are also washable. Why not start up your own ‘central composter’ in your local village or town? We have so many different requests for all types of bags to be produced that we will soon have a new page on the website called ‘New Uses for Our Bags’. Hopefully this will inspire all you Green People out there to start up your own campaigns in your local towns and villages.

07 March – Yeah I know – another month slipped by without me posting a blog – all I can say is that it has been very exciting month. You will note from below that we attended the Scottish Liberal Democrat’s conference at the end of February – great fun was had by all – especially by the BBC camera crew – they wanted (and got) all interviews in front of our stand – here is a pic of the stand for you – which I am sure you will agree is very bright and colourful. Because of the Daily Mail (many thanks to you) maintained their “Campaign for Banning The Bag” Go Green Bags were very topical at the conference. When I said in my Feb 12 blog would somebody please carry a bag into the debating chamber – preferably when the cameras were rolling – well a lovely lady did one better – while making her speech to the conference; the bags were on the lecture stand – what a lovely lady.

Also I have to introduce you to another new lady that is coming on the team – Anne Daly – in Scotland there will be many people who will say “I know her ... “ Anne is really well known Phoenix Trader and fundraiser in Scotland – while we are still working out how Anne fits into the organisation she is very welcome and we are all sure that great things will come from this. Contact Anne by email anne@gogreenbags.co.uk and by phone 01506 200553.

We are in the middle of putting Order 11 to bed – while not closed yet you will have to move fast to put your order in – but if you do we can promise the fastest turn round for your Own Logo Bags.

So – after 2 years of campaigning it would seem that some progress is beginning to happen – those thin polyethylene “30 minute” bags are beginning to be seen for what they are – a terrible blight on the countryside and a killer of animals. While we are the first to say that our bags are not the solution they are a great step in the right direction. Let’s all work together – with the Daily Mail – and maybe Gordon Brown – to get rid of these bags from our country. We know that they are no good – we know that they kill – we know that we need to do something. Let’s all try to do a little – then the change will happen by itself.

12 February –But we do have fresh hopes – The Scottish Liberal Democrats have their conference at the end of this month and guess who will be there with a lovely bag for them – yep – us at Go Green Bags – you will find us at the exhibition outside. The SLD have kindly ordered a quantity of bags with their logo on for the conference so all you Democrats please carry them into the chamber – preferably when the TV cameras are rolling – wouldn’t that be nice ?

11 February – The next shipment is arriving on Friday 15th February, we will be contacting all who have orders in this shipment – once again I would like to say a big thank you to all that have supported me with this venture – it grows and grows – with help from Jodie in London and now Liz in Scotland – they are such a big support. Anybody else wants to help – they are more than welcome. Also a really big thank you to Anne Daly – for all the support and help.

We attended Scotland’s Premier Networking Event in Edinburgh on Thursday last – to help people to meet Liz and to meet new people (as one does at these events) – a big thank you to EventsforBusiness and The Small Business Club for organising it so well – also it was great to meet so many great people – the pink bags seem to be liked for some reason – cannot think why!!

We have a fair stock of bags now – so we will be re-working the stock bag page to reflect the new bags. Watch this space as they say – it might take a few days or so.

2 February – May I introduce Liz Forrester – our latest Agent – Liz lives in St Andrews. Her son Niall is a recycling boy who goes around St Andrews helping with the recycling. Do have a look at his blog (see http://therecycleboy.typepad.com/my_weblog/) and to support him if you live in St Andrews.

Liz will be supporting all in Scotland for Go Green Bags – contact Liz liz@gogreenbags.co.uk or on 07780913044 – she will help you with a smile!!

14 January – Just a quick note to say that we are about to go VAT registered – so please bear with me while this old dog learns yet another new trick – lets hope that I learn quickly –

Pink bags (below) are selling well – so do get in quick – we are trying to change the website to reflect the new status- don’t forget the new office number is 01333 451401

I have been out and about delivering bags to all who ordered them in Order 8 – in particular to Next Generation Kidz in Kidwelly in Wales – we hope to get some pics of the kids with the bags for the gallery. If you have pics of your bags being promoted or used in any way and want them on the website please just send them to me and we will try our best to get them onto the website. Hope that the rain and snow does not affect you all too much – best wishes from the bagman.

07 January – During the time between Christmas and New Year we have moved house, office and warehouse. Things are still a little difficult so bear with me if I seem not to be in contact. It does not help to find out that BT managed to cut off the old office 2 days before they connected the new office. And … and … they forgot the forwarding message to tell everybody the new number. They say that they have done it now but I am not holding my breath. For everybody out there who reads this – don’t bother with BT – I wish I had not – the new office number is 01333 451401

On to better things – the Pink Bag is in stock – you can find it in the webshop. If you want quantities of 100 or more then contact em via email or phone (bagman@gogreenbags.com or 01333 451401) and we can arrange delivery. Hurry there is a great deal of pent-up demand for these bags and they will not hang around long.

We have taken delivery of the latest container and there are many bags to be delivered – again if you need me I would suggest you call on the mobile as I shall be travelling quite a bit for the next week or so. We have a new large bag for the Traders in the Derby Central Market, a lovely bag with a very cheeky message on it... a question which you might not want to answer, the Falkirk Wheel has a really striking bag in black which has the wheel logo on it – you can find this bag in the shop when you visit the Falkirk Wheel – its well worth it. There are many other bags to show you on the Own Logo page (I will get to update it soon! – I promise)

Watch this space for more information once the rush to deliver the new arrivals has finished.

28 December – Hi everybody – it will soon be Hogmanay and I hope that you will enjoy yourselves over the holidays – we up here in Scotland have an extra day (another Bank Holiday on the 2nd January) to get over the excesses of the night!! _ Happy New Year to all our friends out there who either carry a bag or sell the bags – keep up the good work in 2008 and thank you so much for your support and enthusiasm.

Now some exciting news – Jodie the London Baglady has gone a done a YouTube – see her on her page on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/LovelyLadynLad - Jodie has been a tremendous support and a font of inspiration for me so do go along and have a look at some of the vids that Jodie has recorded. As you will see we have added the Contact Us page so that you can give us some feed back and while response has been really great we are always happy to have more. If you want me to put something into the Bagman’s Blog for you then send in your ideas and we can talk about it.

Some organisational information – we are moving – thanks to your tremendous support we need to move – both office and warehouse. Although we are staying in Fife we are moving to the East Neuk – for you guys south of the border that is the most easterly edge of Fife just south of St Andrews (ah come on – I’m sure you have heard of St Andrews and its famous university – to say nothing of being the Home of Golf) – we will let you have the new telephone numbers and addresses as soon as the move has been accomplished.

Other than that – it just remains to say – once again HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL

9 December – Everybody is telling me that this year is the year to give your presents to your family and friends in a green recyclable bag – instead of all that paper and tape just put the presents into a bag – cover the top and put under the tree. This will not only cut down on the paper and stuff used this year but will also give a powerful message to all about recycling – and if you use one of our bags then we will be happy – buy some from the webshop here – but if you use another bag – well that is fine too – we are happy with what you do as long as the message is getting across. Reduce : Re-use : Recycle

With a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all from all of us here at Go Green Bags

3 December – OK you guys and gals – we are in the middle of changing the website so that you can give us your feed-back – I hope to open a page for a forum – on anything green or subject that you feel are important to the planet and humans (actually animals too – cos they are important as well) - So – you will find a comments button just off to the left of this blog – leading to a page with a comments form – why don’t you go there and fill it in – give us the benefit of your thoughts.

29 November – Have signed up for the UK-AWARE Exhibition at the Barbican – this is Greener Living Expo - Pioneering Greener Living Expo, LONDON AWARE '08, will take place on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th of May 2008 in Exhibition Hall 1 of the Barbican. It will be a 'one stop shop' for regular people and businesses who want to live and work in a more sustainable way. We hope that a lot of green minded people will come along and support everybody in this awareness venture. See http://www.ukaware.com

23 November – As previously mentioned – the Christmas bag has been a great success – in the last few weeks we have limited the numbers that could be bought so that everybody would at least get a few – also since I note that our bags have made it to eBay – yep, I guess that we are up there with the famous other bag – but not as expensive – I really thought that it would be best to just keep things quiet – I would not want somebody buying all the bags and then selling them on eBay for a lot more – not really fair.

15 November – Our second Christmas – I thought that we had learnt from the first but it would seem that it needs a few more lessons for this old dog to have facts hammered into him – if you want bags in time for Christmas sales then you have to order no later than August – while I did remember to remind people – sadly not enough – never mind there are still enough bags to go around.

What has been really nice has been the response to the pre-view day on the National Green Day – Biggart Baillie organised a huge number of schools and school children to come to the marquee on the Friday – the Preview Day – and that has resulted in quite a few schools organising recycling projects with our bags – now that is something to be pleased about – both for the recycling and for us – helps us grow.

5th November – Biggart Baillie organised the first National Green Day – with a marquee on George Square in Glasgow last weekend – what a great success for all who had a hand in it – on Friday there was a preview day which was devoted to schools and school kids – I think that they enjoyed themselves – and the Saturday was given over to the public – again they seem to be very happy with all the stands and events.

We had this bag with us – every girl – from 6 to 88 years old wanted it – but we only had the one bag – it was and is our new Pink Bag for stock – you will also be able to buy it from Anne Daly in Linlithgow. There are some pics of us on the stand with some of the kids in the Gallery. Take a look at them – the kids are great! We will be announcing here when the bags are available – we will be selling them via the webshop.

I am sorry to say that we have sadly underestimated the demand for the Christmas bags – they have nearly all gone – and that despite our rationing them over the last 1,000 bags – they were rationed to 50 bags per customer and mostly to schools at that – but they have now all gone – since delivery is now after Christmas I guess that next Christmas is when we will be stocking these again – if you think that I should stock them all year around – please write to me and tell me – email bagman@gogreenbags.com as usual.

We have a limited quantity of Christmas bags – also displayed on the Stock Bag webpage – the logo says “This Bag is for Recycling – not just for Christmas” and “This bag is for Life – Not just for Christmas” – this bag was developed from last Christmas where people we asking me for a bag to hold Christmas presents in – they did not want to put ordinary bags under the tree – which is so nice.

October 5 – OK – now for the news – we have a new stock bag for you – it’s a black bag with a green logo on – Logo says on one side “Bury treasure – not Bags” and “Black Bag – Green Intentions” on the other side – see the Stock bag webpage for details –

October 4 – Order 8 is well towards that magic volume discount trigger – a couple of more orders and we will be there – so come on you guys – we are in talks with a town that wants to go “bagless” along the lines of Modbury in South Devon – what is happening is the town traders together with the town councillors are drawing up ways of getting rid of those ultra thin single use polyethylene supermarket style plastic bags – we are working with them to offer an umbrella order for the traders who want bags but do not want all the bags to be the same size or have the same logo or even the same colour bags – we will provide as many different colours as possible – we think that it would be good to have a single element in the bag –maybe a logo or a basic design – to identify every bag in the town – good marketing I would think – watch this space as they say.

September 28 – Whew – its been a slog getting the bags into the warehouse again – shipping is not for the faint hearted – we have that famous bag – the Scottish National Party bag – think that it is going to be a great success – certainly even those who do not want to have anything to do with that particular political party – well they like the bag anyway – and think that it’s a great idea.

September 18 – Again and again I say to myself “its time to write up the Blog again …” and what do I do about it – Nothing !!!! So sorry for this delay – my only excuse is that there never seems to be enough hours in the day – anybody that runs their own business will identify with that – there is always something else to do – so where are we – Order 7 is here and is being delivered as we speak (well you know what I mean!!) – a lot of miles to cover – there has been some questions on the delivery charges – I hold that I should not make money out of deliveries so what I attempt to do is work out the cost of the van (couriers are far too expensive charging £10 for a carton) and divide by the number of cartons. This usually works out fairly cheap but I guess could be improved on by a company that is doing it all the time -So anybody out there can offer a cheaper way of delivering cartons to diverse addresses around the UK – please get in contact with the Bagman – thanks!

September 5 – Just getting back to work after my trip to Oz to see my new Grand daughter – I would love to put a pic of her here – but then others would also want it and anyway – doting I am – but perhaps I should keep an even keel – but she is so lovely. Work is going fine – we were asked to be part of the Welsh Government Health Authority to promote healthy living - something that we love to do – but I think that our bags are not really the type of bag that is being sourced – but as long as there are initiatives out there and we get asked – then we are happy!

August 19 - Hello fellow baggers, it is your London Bag Lady here! Here comes Santa Claus...well yes, a bit early; however our Limited issued Christmas Bags and Trendy Little Black number are on their way. As the age old saying goes, get in quick as they will go fast. Well, people we are amidst a global change. Attitudes are evolving and thank goodness. It is no longer good enough to have Green Thoughts, we must now put them in action! We can accomplish anything together, so I want to say thank you for joining us! Stay in tune for my new page on the site, will be getting rid of that horrible photo!! Please feel free to drop us a line to say hi and let us know how your bags are going. Until next time, spread the word! - Jodie – contact me on londonbaglady@gogreenbags.com or 07939 279 228

August 15 – We are in that phase again - orders now being taken – we have several clients who are needing their bags – BUT as you know in order to gain access to those all important volume discounts we amalgamate orders until we reach the required factory minimum – so we are getting closer for the next order – if you are thinking of ordering bags – now would be a good time to contact us – we can expedite your order now. Now I do not want you to think that we have gone all political – but in a few short weeks you will see a bright yellow bag with the letters SNP on the side in black – The Scottish National Party decided that their canvassers bags could be a recyclable bag – so they came to us Go Green Bags – it’s a great looking bag.

August 10 – Our latest order is now at the factory – it will be with us by middle to end of September – as long as we can find a ship and a downhill sea to get here – shipping has its moment but we would prefer that we could make the bags here in the UK – but that is not possible at the moment – we are working on getting more of the bag being made from recycled material – at the moment the base board is fully recycled – now we are looking at the base of the bag and the handles. Those of you who have seen the latest bags will have noticed that the base board is different – more flexible and softer – well as this progresses we hope that the changes to the recycled base board will continue so we can use that as a fabric for the bag – at the moment the material will crack and splinter but with more development – who knows – maybe we can achieve a totally recycled bag that is strong – flexible and the same cheap price. After all – most people know – we at Go Green Bags are committed to recycling but our initial goal is a cheap easily available shopping bag that is not that thin supermarket style bag – but one that is reusable and recyclable – so important. We believe in first steps – lets remove these thin polyethylene non-recyclable bags from our country.

July 30 – All bags in the current shipment are now delivered and on sale – the list is impressive –eve nif we do say so ourselves – all will be listed in the Own Logo page but it will take us a little time to do this so shall list them here – to start with we have Cardiff Castle – the bags were delivered to the Castle for the gift shop – and got put into the dungeon no less – not had bags in dungeons before – then we had a re-order from Loch Arthur Creamery from just outside of Dumfries (it is so nice to get re-orders – we feel we are achieving something; so thanks Loch Arthur Creamery) – Birchgrove Eggs Aberystwyth now have their really nice bags with a great logo on – find them on http://www.birchgrove-eggs.co.uk/english/index.html - then a new -ish Farm Shop just outside of Edinburgh called Pardovan Farm Shop – Newton Dee Village Shop now stock their own logo bags – this is part of the Camphill Trust organisation – Fife Council have again taken bags – this time for the Be Your Own Boss campaign – BYOB is a new slogan around Fife these days –

Craigie Fruit Farm of “We are growing” fame – go to their new Farm Shop and sample everything while sitting looking out over a great view – Damhead Organics have kindly re-ordered bags from us – they are to be found in Old Pentland near Edinburgh – And at last a new school – Kelsall Primary School in Cheshire their PTA decided to work the 2 stones trick go green and raise funds for the school at the same time – John Birrell in St Andrews have been stocking our “Wee Green Pokes” for over a year now so the step up to own logo bags was a very small one – Lanarkshire Farmer’s Markets now have a bright new bag for their Farmer’s Markets each Saturday – If you are in Edinburgh then a visit to Coco Chocolate is a must – they have fantastic new bags – colour of the bag? Well what do you think – chocolate coloured of course – also in Edinburgh are Buddha Who – they have red bags and black bags with the most stunning logo on them – get one if you can – they are very collectable indeed – and finally the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society wanted to provide a bag to their customers – so who did they contact – Go Green Bags – so now Go Green Bags are travelling around Cambridgeshire and Norfolk.

July 1 - We are nearly at the point of no return for the next order - a few bags still to finalise and then the order will be closed - so if you are wanting bags in time for Christmas then now is the time to ACT!

June 30 - It would seem that I can only manage to write this blog once a month - but this time it is not my delay - Mike our webmaster just got back off holiday - so not all my fault - but I have been remiss too. For that matter is it is holiday season - so all of you who are going on holiday have a really great time - I will be away for the first 2 weeks of August.

What to say about shipping, there are so many delays in getting ships into UK ports they do not know where to start. The current order has been fabricated for more than a month now but it is still not yet here - we can only try to speed things up - we are doing our best under very difficult conditions.

June 21 to June 24 - Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh - those of you who were there - you know that it was a rather damp affair - but the Go Green Bags were there - in the Shopping Marque with lots of others - we have to say a very big thank you to Anne Daly and her band of willing ladies who manned the stall under very difficult conditions - so thank you so much for your support and your hard work. Also a thank you to the Farmer's Market traders who took their Go Green Bags along to their stalls in the Food Hall - the hall was festooned with Go Green Bags of one sort or another.

June 20 - The next order is taking shape - as you know, we amalgamate orders until we get to the volume discount level and then place the order - well we are at that level now - with Jodie our Londonbaglady landing 3 orders (take a bow Jodie ?) and repeat orders from last year's clients (actually October's delivery -they have run out that fast!!) + there has been a lot of interest in a Christmas bag - we are still designing this bag - so if you have any ideas as to what you would want to see then contact me - urgently before the middle of July.

This order is closing now - so anybody that is thinking of ordering Own Logo Bags in time for Christmas sales should contact either Jodie or me - the Bagman - as soon as possible.

June 10 - Also in the new order is a new use for bags - Dumfries and Galloway Libraries have decided to use the bags as Book Bags - plus another new use for the bag - wait for it - are you a culture vulture - if so then go to Dumfries and Galloway to buy your bags - in the Autumn of course.

Also in the new order is the re-order of Falko Konditormeister - with the really sensational Falko Shopper Bag - a delight in maroon fabric with warm grey text - Falko have opened a new shop in Gullane - for those of you who do not know where that is - it's a lovely place just east of Edinburgh. The new Falko Shopper is larger and a cubism's dream. You work it out!!

There is a really interesting concept happening in St Andrews - Birrell the greengrocers on South Street have long stocked Go Green Bags but now have started a campaign for fresh fruit and vegetables for students at St Andrew's University - so if you are a student go along to Birrells and talk to them.

May 29 - once again a month has passed so quickly - it would seem that our fame is spreading, not only are our bags going into another language - Welsh - but also we have been contacted by the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society for bags - also by a wonderful company called Buddahawho in Edinbugh - up to you readers to find out who they are and what they do - but believe me they are worth it!!

Also we have our very first chocolate bag - bags for holding chocolates that is - not made of chocolate - Coco of Bruntsfield who have a really neat slim bag in a - well a chocolate colour.

We joined everybody at The Gathering with Civicus in Glasgow - for those who were there it was a really great conference and exhibition. We would recommend it to everybody in charity work in Scotland.

British Gas just contacted Go Green Bags - they are celebrating World Environment Day at the end of this week - so they just could not do that without some Go Green Bags - the Be Fantastic bags - well done British Gas.

Schools continue to be a big part of the Go Green Bag campaign - the kids really do work on getting that recycling right - if you want to know more about the campaign then contact me or Jodie the Londonbaglady and we will send you - free of charge - a fact sheet on what we are trying to do.

We are very pleased to announce that another Camphill Trust farm shop has ordered their own Go Green Bags for selling in their shop - beats the single use 30 minute/1,000 year polyethylene bag any day - we can recycle ours. Any other trust or charity looking for a new way to raise funds for your cause then contact me - the bagman - we can work together to get a really good bag into the hands of people who care about the environment and the planet.

Everybody is working really hard on getting the new order that is at the factory to the shops and schools - also we think that we shall be placing another order in the middle of June so if you want your own logo on the Go Green Bag - and start to really make a difference in your shop and market stall - then contact us and we will be only too happy to help.

Once again - I will be trying to write a little more often so that news is not old before you get to read it - promise!!

April 30 - where has the time gone - for those of you in Angus there has been a competition going at the Farmer's Markets to find out who has the best use for a Go Green Bag - watch this space for the results and the photos.

Lawthorn Primary School over in Irvine spent a few days working on the Go Green Bags - they were trying to see how much they could get into one - stopped at 6 bottles of pop - 2 litre ones that is - the fun part was that the bag was strong enough but none of the kids could lift the bag.

We have a new order at the factory - a bag with Welsh Dragon on it - a school in Cheshire - and now interest from Vets in London and Edinburgh plus various shops in Edinburgh and new Farmers Market's Associations on the west coast.

We have a Londonbaglady - Jodie take a bow - if you are in London and wish to talk to somebody who knows our bags and has samples, swatches and good ideas then please contact her on 07939279228. Jodie is really keen to help people to change their habit of taking a thin plastic bag instead of carrying a good strong bag like the Go Green Bag.

We spent the day at S2S 2nd Annual Social Enterprise Trade Fair, 26th April 2007, Perth Concert Hall last Thursday, met a huge number of people and showed the Go Green Bag to the same huge number of people. Lets hope that they all like our bags. Will be trying to write a little more often so that news is not old before you get to read it.

March 28 - Well - have been back for a week or more - but due to urgent family matters had to dash off to Cheshire for 4 days - hence the delay in getting this blog going again.

We are going full steam ahead with the next order for Own Logo bags - Cardiff - Aberystwyth - Kelsall - Aberdeen - Loch Arthur Creamery in Dumfries (fifth order!! - we must be doing something right) - plus Fife Council, Pardovan Farm Shop in West Lothian and Mrs Hamilton's Lamb also in West Lothian; in short all over the UK - we have also had enquires from San Francisco, Puerto Rico, Hawaii (again) and France. Obviously a lot of these are going to be difficult to manage as the shipping miles are enormous but we are really happy that so many people are seeing the website and agreeing with our campaign.

On the subject of the campaign we are looking at setting up a portion of the website for people to provide their ideas and actions as to how to take this forward. Watch this space as they say.

If you are thinking of upgrading from stock bags to Own Logo Bags or just investing in your Own Logo bags for your shop or deli - then now is the time to contact me, we are just about to complete the next order (you will see in other parts of this website that we combine orders from small (ish) companies so that they can gain the benefit of the cheaper volume prices that the larger companies enjoy -this usually means a short wait for your bags but the cost savings are worth it) - we are just about there to meet the volume discount levels but we could always do with extra orders to lower the costs and save on shipping miles. Ordering now will mean that you will have the shortest delivery time possible.

Will write again in a few days - in the mean time - have a really happy Easter - don't let the Easter Bunny get you!! And watch out for those lovely chocolate eggs

February 16 - Just to let you know that the office will be closed for a short while, you will be still able to contact me via email - bagman@gogreenbags.com but until 14 March we will be closed. This is so that I can visit the factory and have a short break with my family afterwards.

All systems will be going full steam ahead on 15 March

February 14 - Valentine's Day - Yippee - get to send out valentine cards - without any name on them - great fun if you are brave - but watch out for the rebound - Hope that you all have a wonderful time

And now introducing the new "Scotland's Wee Green Poke Bottle Bag" just as strong as ever, but now it has 6 compartments for holding bottles - its really useful for keeping in the kitchen and storing the empty bottles in - ready for going straight to the Recycling Centre. Also good for plastic bottles and other small plastic stuff that normally get thrown out as they are too awkward to store. You will be amazed how many of those little plastic bottles you can get into one of these bags.

The price is very nearly the same - stock them instead of the cardboard ones!

February 9 - Well - Order 4 arrived - a little late - we tried a new way of shipping them but frankly it was slower than the old way - it looked promising but was not - ah well - back to the drawing board.

After up close and personal viewing by HM Customs for some reason the first Order for 2007 arrived - they were quickly into the shops - to see the new bags and buy some but of course you have to buy at least one if not more!!

In Stirling go to Blairmains Farm Shop and Coffee Bothy - on the A92 at Blairlogie In North Berwick go to the High Street and buy them at Earth Matters - a long time supporter of Go Green Bags In Cupar go to The Farm Shop in Lady Wynd just off the A92 In St Andrews meet the students and buy one of their bags - the SD Society (Sustainable Development Society) - will be selling them at their events In East Lothian, Longniddry to be exact, go to Ballencrieff Rare Pedigree Pig Farm Shop - don't forget to say hello to the piggies Just outside of Edinburgh but in Mid Lothian; at Pentland Road Lothianburn near Hillend visit a real Organic Centre - Damhead Organics - a really good shop and they deliver vegetables and fruit to your door too - what more can you ask? They have a great looking black bag with a stunning logo on it.

At all Farmer's Markets around Scotland look out for the following bags Caurnie Soaperie - all of you that go regularly to Farmer's Markets will have seen Caurnie soap stall - now you can buy Go Green Bags too Also at most Farmer's Markets you will find Puddledub Pork - with a name like that how can you forget - must remember to ask what it means - anyway you will also find some truly great Go Blue Bags Finally as mentioned above Ballencrieff Rare Pedigree Pigs now have a really neat black bag with stereo piggies on it ( buy one if you don't believe me!!)

Finally we got some more stock, there are lots of "Scotland's Wee Green Poke" and even more "Be Fantastic - Lose Plastic" bags in stock plus a new bag - the Go Green Bottle bag.

January 25 - I hope that you all are celebrating tonight with a Supper - certainly this household will be doing so - we all wish everybody in Scotland that they have a good evening. As stated below Order 4 will be with us in the very near future, you will see the new Own Logo bags decorating the Own Logo page here. Any body wanting their own bags just contact the Bagman, orders now being taken for delivery in April / May.

January 17 - Belated Happy New Year to all readers - good news in the fact that Order 4 is almost with us - and for those who are worrying - No they are not aboard the MS Napolii being "liberated" on the beaches -