COME on Selkirk! You can do it!That was the rallying cry issued this week to townsfolk by Jenna Agate, the organiser of the campaign to make the royal burgh a plastic bag-free town.
Already large numbers of people have signed up to the campaign, which had originally targeted March 31 as the date when the town could be declared Scotland's first plastic bag-free town.
The following week, on April 4, free reusable bags will be h
anded out to shoppers in the town by Jenna and her fellow campaigners.
"Selkirk might not end up being the first town in Scotland to be declared plastic bag-free, but we can still be one of the first," Jenna told The Wee Paper this week.
"We're almost there – we just need one further big push to get everyone on board.
"Most of the town has been very supportive.
"There have been, however, one or two people a bit concerned because they have large stocks of plastic bags which they have already purchased.
"What we want people to do in such places is make a donation of just 5p per plastic bag, until these are used up.
"That money will be used to help pay for replacement cornstarch bags, which cost 5p each, and that means traders will not be out of pocket.
"After that, shoppers will be charged 5p for a cornstarch bag if they want one and that will, hopefully, also encourage more people to start taking their own bags with them when they shop."
Jenna explained that a number of local town traders with large stocks of plastic bags have now signed the campaign 'pledge' to use up their stocks of bags by a certain date.
She also passed on a plea this week from the Barnardo's shop in the town, which has agreed to give up using plastic bags.
However, the shop needs more people to hand in their paper carrier bags for staff to use for shoppers' purchases, or for folk to bring their own reusable bags.
And Jenna added: "We're almost there. Selkirk has done a tremendous amount and should be praised. It's now time for us to seize the day and make a little bit of history here in Selkirk."
