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Given the success of Modbury, the co-op are trialing going plastic bag free in a wider local area - every householder in the village got a coupon for a free fair trade cotton carrier, and after about a weeks warning and a public meeting, bags (biodregadable cornstarch) will only be offered at 5p each, or you can buy the cotton ones.

yay!

Fantastic!! Well done to the Co-op(erative)

That's excellent news!

Nice one Red! Wish they would roll that out up here....I had to complain to th Co about always getting a bag (on a thread here somewhere). They never replied, so I chased them by email. The Area Mangler then wrote to me saying he was sorry for my inconvenience and that he would look into the matter!

Is there anything on their web site that I can use to prod the Co up here with perhaps? Sounds like a great idea

here you go its Plymouth and South West co-op- guess its a different bunch up there with you. and ssems to be 'your local co-op' ie little village stores. I dunno what a big co-op even looks like!

That's a good idea to contact the Co-op about this... What always annoys me in our "local" Co-op is the fact they don't sell Scottish cheddar. The only Scottish cheese they do is Caboc...

They don't automatically give me a bag, but prodding them into the cloth bag direction might be an idea! Maybe we should try that in different Scottish locations at once?

On the other hand, one of the ladies at the tills was singing her heart out the other day when I was in there - and really good, too. Trained voice, it sounded like. Can't imagine that happening at T***'s!

Red - thanks for the link! A suitable email has just gone off to the Co here. I will post any replies!

Ina - The Co here (Lothian and Borders) is particularly good at Scottish cheese - all from major producers though. The deli in Dunbar does do a lovely smoked Lammermuir cheese from a local farmer, but sadly it's not something we can afford regularly

There's quite a few local cheeses around here now, and several shops selling them, too (expensive, of course, but quality) - but the Co-op doesn't even do bog-standard McLelland cheddar... (Funny enough, Lidl's do - and they also sell Scottish butter and cream, which is sometimes impossible to get at the Co-op!).

Everyone... try your local co-op.... we went to ours in Alford yesterday and they are selling fairtrade cotton bags for 99p.... good size too.... I was more than happy to pay the price..... but it gets better because if you save your till receipts - yes you need 10 of them... and they do each need to be a fiver minimum - you fill in the form and get a voucher for £1 - and all profits (how can there be any?) go towards a children's charity too.

Anyway.... definitely a step in the right direction.

I'm a member of our local co-op and it's always a great treat when the dividend vouchers come. It's only ever a couple of pounds but that's a lot of chocolate.

Zoe

and co-op once again doing good.. sign at the fruit and veg 'do you really need a bag, you are welcome to purchase your fruit or veg loose' - or somethng to that effect. great! even less plastic

Wow! It's happened to me in the past that I took a couple of onions to the check out and they insisted on giving me a bag there, as I'd obviously just forgotten to take one... Things are definitely improving.

yeh - i had to carry a stash of their 'produce' bags in my pocket so i could reuse, otherwise they would only tut and bag em at the till.. but now its policy its all different.