Bags Not! Towards a plastic shopping bag free Waitakere
Bags
Not! is an eco city partnership with residents and
businesses to achieve a plastic shopping bag free Waitakere.
Led by Waitakere City Council and championed by
Mayor Bob Harvey, the Bags Not! campaign aims to raise awareness of the environmental issues surrounding the over-use of plastic bags and encourage people to make small, sustainable changes to collectively make a difference.
Did you know that New Zealanders alone use over one billion plastic bags every year? That's 250 per person! If everyone used just three fewer bags a week, that number would halve.
Whether you’re a resident or a retailer, it only takes a few practical steps to make a difference. It can be as simple as taking a reusable bag with you when you shop, or offering your customers a plastic bag alternative.
The Bags Not! website is full of useful information on avoiding plastic bag usage and using and sourcing more environmentally-friendly options. It's also packed with interesting facts and figures and examples of successful campaigns in communities, cities and countries around the world that have made a real difference in addressing 'the plastic bag problem'. We welcome your tips and feedback.
The plastic invasion of Auckland
By Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey - Last year I stood knee deep in Horahora Creek pulling rubbish out
of the mangroves for
Project Twin Streams. It was
backbreaking work. I filled 20 bags an hour to load onto the
Waitemata Harbour Clean-up Trust
boat Phil Warren. There
were cardboard containers, discarded food, unwanted clothes
and even shopping trolleys. But more than anything else,
there were hundreds of plastic bags.
At conferences around the world, I show the DVD of Phil
Warren team filling bags from Rangitoto, Waiheke and the
Whau Stream and river. On March 8, it led 1000 volunteers to
Great Barrier Island. They returned with more than 29,000
litres of Auckland's rubbish...
Read more..
Waitakere says "Bags Not"
Waitakere is the first New Zealand city to declare a goal of going
plastic shopping bag free.
Its 'Bags Not!' campaign was
launched before a crowd of hundreds at
Westfield WestCity on September 5.
Local rugby icon Michael Jones took the stage to support what he
called a "great cause." Kelston's award winning Unison dance crew,
Project Twin Streams Song
Quest winner Abootu and reggae duo Rootswest performed..
Read more...
Bags
Not! is an eco city partnership with residents and
businesses to achieve a plastic shopping bag free Waitakere.
By Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey - Last year I stood knee deep in Horahora Creek pulling rubbish out
of the mangroves for
Waitakere is the first New Zealand city to declare a goal of going
plastic shopping bag free.