PLASTIC bags could become a thing of the past in a village if a new group get their way. The Bassingbourn Transition Village group wants to rid the area of disposable bags and replace them with reusable alternatives. They launched the initiative at the in

PLASTIC bags could become a thing of the past in a village if a new group get their way.

The Bassingbourn Transition Village group wants to rid the area of disposable bags and replace them with reusable alternatives.

They launched the initiative at the inaugural Bassingbourn harvest market, which was held last weekend.

Alexandra French, one of the organisers, told The Crow: "The campaign is to encourage us all to take our own bags with us when we do our shopping and also to encourage all our local businesses to move away from handing out plastic bags and offer more sustainable alternatives such as paper or cornstarch.

"Saturday was the launch and we thought it went really well, so hopefully this will really take off in Bassingbourn."

The group have produced fair trade cotton bags to hand out to villagers, and were pleased to distribute many of them at the market.

Miss French said: "We gave out about 150 on Saturday, and we have a number of retailers who have agreed to take them in their shops, which is good news. We hope that every household in the village will soon have one

"We think that it's realistic to try and make the whole of Bassingbourn plastic bag free by the end of the year."

The overall aim of the Transition Village project is to help make a better, more sustainable, future for Bassingbourn.

The harvest market, which was organised in association with Bassingbourn parish council, was one of the first events they have organised, and featured 20 stalls selling locally grown products such as fruit and vegetables, plants and flowers, and preserves.

"There were a great range of stalls and a lot of people attended," said Miss French. "Hopefully it can become a regular event on the village calendar."

For more information on the transition village project, visit http://bassingbourntransitionvillage.ning.com. The cotton shopping bags cost �1 and can be purchased from a number of outlets in the village including the Book Caf�.