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Shoppers to be rewarded for reducing plastic bag useThe Latrobe City Litter Prevention Taskforce has embarked on a campaign to reduce the number of plastic shopping bags entering Latrobe City’s environment by rewarding grocery shoppers for using their own reusable bags. By Latrobe City Council - 23rd October 2003 - Back to News Every week, for the next ten weeks, $100 will be presented by the Latrobe City Litter Prevention Taskforce to an environmentally friendly shopper selected at random who is seen checking out their groceries at a Latrobe City supermarket in a reusable bag.
Latrobe City Mayor and Chairperson of the Litter Prevention Taskforce, Councillor Graeme Middlemiss, said the campaign was aimed at significantly reducing the estimated half a million plastic shopping bags consumed in Latrobe City every week.
"Many supermarket shoppers have already changed their habits. They’ve reduced the number of plastic bags they take home from the supermarket every week by taking their own reusable bags with them when they go shopping. Some shoppers have even eliminated plastic bags from their grocery shopping altogether," Cr Middlemiss said.
"They are the new breed of environmentally friendly shoppers and they are becoming increasingly noticeable having their groceries packed into reusable calico or polypropylene green bags at the supermarket checkout.
"These shoppers are ‘bagging themselves a better environment’ by reducing or even eliminating plastic bags from their shopping, and now some of them, selected at random, are going to be rewarded with a $100 prize," Cr Middlemiss said.
Cr Middlemiss said the campaign built on initiatives to reduce plastic bag use already undertaken by local supermarkets and organisations such as Clean Up Australia and Planet Ark.
"Supermarkets now have several inexpensive reusable alternatives to plastic bags for sale and are happy to pack customers groceries in these, because they want to help the environment too. If shoppers don’t already have their own reusable bags, I urge them to look for them when they enter their favourite supermarket," Cr Middlemiss suggested
Latrobe City Waste Engineer and member of the Litter Prevention Taskforce, Matthew Peake, said there were two reasons why plastic bags were a particular problem in the litter stream.
"Firstly they last from twenty to a thousand years, and secondly they escape from backyards, shopping trolleys and even rubbish bins and transfer stations, and float easily in the air and water, travelling long distances and litter our countryside," Mr Peake said.
"Even the so called ‘biodegradable’ plastic shopping bags are a problem. While they obviously break down in the environment much faster than alternatives, vast numbers like all other plastic bags still escape into the environment with gusts of wind and create a massive litter problem.
"Plastic kills up to 1 million seabirds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish each year worldwide. It’s not only wildlife that suffers, but agricultural animals as well. Cattle and sheep ingest the plastic when they are grazing, which is often fatal.
"We can all help reduce the number of plastic bags in the environment by using alternatives when we go shopping," Mr Peake said.
The ‘Bag Yourself a Better Environment’ promotion is being sponsored by the Latrobe City Litter Prevention Taskforce and is supported by the Latrobe Valley Express. The weekly prizewinners will be announced in Monday editions of the Latrobe Valley Express.
Source: www.gippsland.com Published by: news@gippsland.com
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