Penistone Gala

A competition was held at the Gala to guess how long the average plastic bag is used for. The answer is a shocking 12 minutes and the nearest guess was made by D. Griffin of Barnsley. The prize was a bag of groceries in a cloth Bag of Character handmade in Penistone from recycled materials. The groceries included a bottle of wine, Fair Trade coffee and chocolate. Vegetables were kindly donated by local Hoylandswaine Farm shop.

The theme of the competition was used to highlight the waste created by plastic carrier bags. If everyone used reusable bags it would save over 8 billion plastic bags being discarded every year and ending up in landfill or littering the countryside.

Penistone Friends of the Earth also collected 133 Big Ask postcards supporting the Climate Change Bill at the Gala. Jo Unsworth, Lord Mayor joined our campaign by completing a postcard. The Big Ask campaign is to ask the Government to make a strong Climate Change bill and ensure that we cut carbon emissions so the UK does its fair share to reduce dangerous climate change. The postcards will be sent to our local MP, Michael Clapham to let him know that the people of Penistone and District are concerned about the environmental issues and support the amendments being recommended by Friends of the Earth to make the bill as effective as possible.