Sarah Carr campaigns for Hereford to become a Plastic Bag Free City

10.46.03am BST (GMT +0100) Sun 10th Jun 2007

Sarah Carr, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Hereford and South Herefordshire with members of Herefordshire Liberal Democrat Youth and Students, local young campaigners and Trekitt staff Neil Rocke and Nikk Godsell supporting the campaign for Hereford to go plastic bag free

A campaign has been launched by Sarah Carr Herefordshire Liberal Democrat Youth and Students (LDYS) for Hereford city to go plastic bag free. Plastic bags have been in the news lately following the decision of the town of Modbury in Devon to ban them after local residents and traders became aware of the terrible impact of plastic bags on wildlife.

Herefordshire LDYS are encouraging local residents to bring their own reusable bag when shopping and to encourage local traders to provide alternatives to plastic bags such as more sustainable bags including recycled paper, card, jute and cotton. The campaign was started following a direct request from local resident 13 year old campaigner Sophie Wyness.

David Hurds, the 20 year old Vice-Chairman of Herefordshire LDYS said, "The average adult uses 300 plastic bags a year and on average each plastic bag is used for 12 minutes before being discarded. Plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces and enters the food chain through waterways and animals. I want to ensure that Hereford is a sustainable city of which we are all proud residents. Local campaigner and Youth Council member Sophie Wyness and I will be campaigning hard to make sure that Hereford goes plastic bag free!"

Sarah Carr, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Hereford and South Herefordshire commented, "I am delighted that members of Liberal Democrats Youth and Students in Herefordshire are taking the initiative, standing up and campaigning to ensure that we protect our environment and our animals. We can all make a difference in protecting our local environment even by small actions such as taking a reusable bag when out shopping. I commend the actions of Herefordshire LDYS and hope that local traders and other residents will join the campaign."