Is this a good thing?

It is a good thing because it’s success will mean that it spreads. I don’t use Morrison’s but popped in because I wasn’t local and they offer really sturdy paper bags as alternatives to plastic - fantastic. Hopefully more will follow. You could say don’t bother as there’s a bigger picture - or...every little helps.

Plastic won't disappear from our life. The problem is the single use and the disposal of the stuff. There will be new methods of production with a view to causing less pollution and there will have to be a lot more efficient recycling. What kind of goods are those plastic free shops selling? How many miles have they travelled? Before the obsession with plastic wrapping we did quite well with paper or just shopping bags for specific products eg fruit and veg, meat and fish and loads of the general foodstuffs. We are all so gullible being enticed with the latest "must have" with not a thought how it is manufactured or from what. Even the electric car being given hyper publicity about how clean they are. But are they. An EV capable of under 200 miles before needing recharging will produce 16% of the amount of an oil based fuelled car. All good. But what do we hear in the media - longer range is needed. An EV capable of over 200 miles before charge emits 84% of the oil based emissions. The small one in cities must prove beneficial surely but the bigger one, is that a real improvement especially since that is the one that seems to be craved. We are so gullible!

Of course it doesn’t make sense to drive a long distance to use these shops! Don’t think anyone would advocate that.
And Digbeth is an awful place??
I wouldn’t know as I’ve never been there. But even if I had I wouldn’t comment..
some of the remarks on here are unbelievable!

It's only single use plastic items that are bad. We are never going to get away from using plastic at all.

I ' treasure ' any paper bags that I get and re-use them as often as I can. This week have gotten them from the chemist, McDonalds and Pret. I hope more shops will adopt this.

At least people are trying. We go to the senior screening at our local cinema most weeks, which includes free coffee and biscuits. This time when I handed over the lidded cups we always take along, the assistant said it would be easier to use theirs - “you just throw them in the bin afterwards and don’t have to carry them home.”

Dentists aren't so keen on that charcoal toothpaste , especially for children .Toothpaste used to come is metal tubes , not sure if that is any better.
I couldn't water my plants with a heavy galvanised can , my plastic ones are at least 10 years old and are not polluting anything.
Plastics still have their place , what about PVC windows ? ( personally not my choice ) They perform better than old leaky wooden ones at half the price .
I have been using cloth shopping bags long before it was fashionable and never used those soap dispensers ,

GG54, agree that the coach station is not the best advertisement either for Birmingham or for Digbeth. The Custard Factory (used to be Birds) however is a thriving hub of interesting art, enterprise and ethnic culture.

Go on, you know you want to...

M&S is giving away plastic "playfood" at the moment according to my daughter. It's one item per £20 shop. When she asked why they have a company schedule to get rid of plastic and yet are deliberately having these plastic give-aways manufactured she was told to just recycle it!

In itself it's a good thing but if you have to travel a long way to get there I expect the carbon emissions balance it out. We can only do our best. We used to have a shop like this locally long before we became aware of the plastics problem but I believe it closed down a while ago.
I bought some 'Veggio' bags from Lakeland which I use instead of single use plastic bags but the impact on the planet must be very small.

Anything that is plastic free can only be good if you look seriously at the state of the planet and want to do your bit to help it.

Someone locally collects old toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes, crisp packets, biscuit wrappers and other stuff that cannot go in recycling bin and sells them on to make money for her charities.

All the carpets in my house are made from recycled plastic. If we all do our bit that's ok.

The plastic in our seas is there because irresponsible a***holes have no idea what a rubbish/recycling bin looks like or how to deposit items in one!!!

Thanks Petra I will look out for that. GDs coming to stay soon. They will be proud of their old GPs

BBbeven
I've got the bathroom plastic free. The toothpaste thing: we buy charcoal whitening tooth powder in a container made of tin & made in the uk.

We have a pop up shop locally which sells liquid soap among other products, I take the empty soap dispensers and get a very nice refill of lime and coconut soap.

I bought a foldaway little handbag shopping bag today. The fabric it is made of, has been manufactured from plastic bottles. Today's purchase has recycled 4 of them

I agree, plastic is very useful but not the single use plastic.

Yes Callistomen.... we have shops! ? Lovely to be able to stroll to one, as our last house ( in a hamlet) had nothing at all.

I must say that smaller shops seem to making more effort than supermarkets - there is a village shop a few miles away from me where they do eco refillable cleaning products. However, I would have to drive there.

Waitrose is an even further drive away.

Is the shop itself free from plastic in the building and fitments or is it touting it's plastic-free credentials re the wrapping on goods?
I think it is single use plastic that is causing the most problems as it is either not disposed of correctly in many instances or it cannot be recycled.

I have some plastic containers which I am still using after about 50 years (Tupperware).

Shown on television the other day, a factory that makes paper drinking straws. They were packing then in clear plastic bags.
For myself I am trying to go plastic free at one. Bathrooms have been easy. Soap bars for hair and shower. Bamboo toothbrushes and knitted cotton wash cloths. Must turn my attention to toothpaste next.
We live in SWWales so no sign of anything like a plastic free shop.

Plastics are definitely causing pollution on the planet, or should I say that the humans disposing of these items incorrectly are doing that. However, using paper packaging instead, just means cutting down more trees which is also bad.

Everything we use should be recycled/composted now and made into something else which is useful and everyone should be made to do it with severe penalties if they don't- both domestic and business users.

I suppose the people from further afield may have been in the area anyway e.g. people who work in Leicester but live elsewhere or who are visiting family and so on.

We don't have a Waitrose nearby and I don't travel over 100+ miles specifically to go to one. Howver, if I'm visiting my son in London I make sure I do find time to have a quick look in his nearby Waitrose and get some goodies to bring home!

I think Urmstongran makes a really good point up thread.

It has to be the whole package really doesn't it? No point in banning balloons, frowning at soap dispensers and then flying around the world is there? Incidentally modern cruise ships run on giant diesel engines and are extremely high pollutants too (not to mention what they dump in the sea).

Digbeth is a dreadful place if the coach station is anything to go by.