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Jackie Surtees and Gill Newman are leading the campaign with green alternatives to the plastic bag.

UPTON is set to become one of the first places in the country to go plastic-bag free.

Carrier bags and plastic packaging will be a thing of the past come May as shoppers and traders alike are encouraged to use more environmentally-friendly alternatives.

The plastic-free campaign is being led by members of Upton in Bloom, who were impressed by what they saw during a visit to the UK's first plastic-free' town, Modbury, in Devon.

"We've now talked to local shopkeepers, who seem very, very positive about the idea," said spokesman Jackie Surtees. "It's the sort of thing that could really work in Upton. We don't think it will be too hard to get the change achieved and we already know a lot of the public are keen on doing it."

Businesses and residents will be encouraged to replace their plastic carrier bags with environmentally-friendly alternatives made from cotton, cloth or less harmful plastic substitutes.

Many of those alternatives will be on display during a special exhibition in the Memorial Hall from Friday-Sunday, January 11-13. There will also be plenty of background information about the effects of plastic and the project itself, as well as several presentations including a BBC film by Rebecca Hosking, who started the plastic-free campaign in Modbury.

Despite it only being a few short months away, Mrs Surtees is confident that Upton will be the first plastic-free town in Worcestershire by the target date of May 1.

"This is something that will form a big part of our In Bloom campaign this year, because it is a very environmental competition," she said. "But it is not just about this one summer. We intend for it to be a permanent change, and from what I have read it could well become a national policy relatively soon anyway."

The exhibition is open from 10am-8pm on Friday and Saturday, January 11-12, and 10am-5pm on Sunday, January 13. Anyone suppliers who would like to exhibit should contact Mrs Surtees on 01684 592336.

11:31am Friday 28th December 2007

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