Are You Ready For A Ban On Plastic Bags?

[icyfroth]

A message from Greenpeace in my inbox this morning:
    
"Under the surface of New South Wales’ beautiful beaches and rivers, there’s a huge problem that’s choking our marine life - the problem: plastic bags.

In Sydney Harbour alone, scientists have found of the 30% of mullet fish and 13% of the bream they caught had some sort of plastic in their guts.

The numbers are staggering and they don’t end there. Up to 50 million plastic bags are littered every year, with way too many ending up in Australian waterways and floating into the ocean.

In New South Wales, it’s estimated that at least 16.5 million plastic bags enter the litter stream every year.

The average plastic bag is only used for 12 minutes before it’s discarded! 12 minutes of use!! And about another 1,000 years in our waterways!!!
It’s just crazy!!!
The good news is there’s a simple, ready-to-go solution - a ban on single-use plastic bags.

Call on New South Wales’ Environment Minister Mark Speakman to ban the bag now.

Australia’s four smallest states and territories banned single-use plastic bags years ago. But the biggest four states - including NSW - still won’t act.
They’ve talked about banning plastic bags for 8 years now. Just a few months ago, they delayed the decision again.

But around the world, plastic bags are being phased out - San Francisco, Rwanda, Italy and Bangladesh have joined South Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and Northern Territory in banning them.
South Australia’s ban has saved our environment from at least 400 million plastic bags - and South Australians love it!

We know the problem, and we have the solution. So what’s the hold-up, Minister Speakman?

If we can convince the him to act, NSW could lead the other states who are lagging behind - and Australia could be free of single-use plastic bags.
And that’s a future to be proud of.
We know that Environment Minister Mark Speakman and the NSW Government do care about our oceans.
Just last month, thanks to tens of thousands of us speaking out, we secured a world’s best recycling system for the state!

Tell Environment Minister Mark Speakman to move forward and ban the bag in New South Wales now."


12 minutes of use and 1000 years in the environment.
Time to take your own bags to the supermarket, ppl.

There's no real escape from plastic bags. They're insidious. I always have my own foldaway shopping bag in my handbag for incidental purchases, and keep my own recyclable shopping bags in the boot of my car for big shopping,

Still manage to accumulate plastic shopping bags, though. I keep them stuffed in a large plastic bag 

I do reuse them as bin liners or packaging, but they ulimately still pollute.

[davidc4430]

allways amazes me just how much packaging my recycle bin has in it every 2 weeks, i live on my own! i see bins around the local area on yellow bin day overflowing with recyclable stuff.

can we not reduce the amount of this stuff somewhere along the line and still get the goods to the customer in good shape?

i allways wondered why the plastic rings couldnt have a weak spot that would break when the item was removed from them thus no chance of animals being 'stuck' in them. doesnt cure the waste problem but helps protect the wildlife.

[k0llectable5]

Theres a company now making biodegradable rings for six packs, they're made from the left over wheat and barley from beer production.  They look good too.  I cant remember where I saw them, fb I think it was. 

I always cut the plasic ones before I bin them. And the rings off the tops of milk bottles, cut them too 🙂 

The whole plastic bags thing.  I'd actually never really considered the green bag vs plastic bag thing.  I've just always used plastic bags as bin lineres like always.  The only time I buy garbage bags is if I'm moving. 

[esayaf]

I haven't seen those plastic six pack rings for years now. They aren't on any of the beer cans in the cartons we buy

[lind9650]

Once upon a time there was no plastic or disposable this and that.

Almost every household got the daily newspaper, and after reading it, it was used to wrap up rubbish and thrown into that small, round garbage bins.

Women had mesh bags or hessian bgs for shoping, and young mothers had cloth, gauze and towelling nappies that filled the clothes line every day.

We could take our own containers to the grocery shop to have them refilled with honey, oil and vinegar, rolled oats, etc, etc.

There was no prepcked anything and we all survived.

My generation is proof that we can live a clean and healthy life without any throw-away plastic.

Erica

[davidc4430]

oh but that was so unhealthy, like drinking milk from an actual cow.

the death rate of milk farmers and their families was so high back then. yeah right.

no, its all for our own good.

of course all the multi national packing making companies were created to protect us not make profits.

i'm surprised we arnt being sold fresh vegtables in there own little boxes/plastic packs. every apple in its own bubble ect.

what about eggs? they come out of a chooks, well you know where, how come we can have them still in just a cardboard box? must be some better packaging there to be forced on us in the name of safety

farmers must laugh when they go into supermarkets at all the carp protecting us plebs.

[lind9650]

But David, we do get pre-packed vegetables and fruit.

Pre-packed,berries, mushrooms, corn, tomatoes and salad greens.

Go to ALDI and get prepacket peaches, kiwi fruit, avocados and much more.

My children used to race inside with a shout; "Mum I'm hungry!" and grabbed the first edible thing they saw. May have been a piece of fruit, a tomato or carrot, a sandwich or muffin, all without sterilising and washing their hands. Hands got washed before sitting down at the dinner table, but otherwise everyone was to busy to think about it.

My eldest daughter is 62y old and the only time she has seen a doctor or been in Hospital, was to have her babies. She is a healthy, no nonsense Grandmother today.

Yep, you are right. It is all done for our own good, not for profit or out of greed.

Erica