Paying for plastic - your views
Hundreds of Aucklanders use supermarket plastic bags, which is seen as in issue for mayoral candidate Phil Goff.
If Goff becomes mayor he says he wants to make Auckland shoppers pay for using supermarket plastic bags in the hope to reduce their use and to help save the environment.
It is said that only minutes after shoppers receive a supermarket plastic bag that it then goes into the waste or out into the environment.
When we asked Rodney residents if they agreed or disagreed with this proposal through a poll on Neighbourly, 120 people voted.
71.7 per cent of voters agreed that yes, plastic bags are bad for the environment, and 28.3 per cent disagreed stating no, paying for plastic bags will not make much difference.
Orewa resident, Linda Atkinson believes that paying for bags will certainly deter some folk, but it will not get rid of the environmental problem.
Her concern is also what will happen to the revenue generated from those who do buy the plastic bags.
Buying the bags ‘‘should not be about businesses benefiting from the problem. I like the New World idea of giving out their red shopping bags and it’s good advertising for them,’’ she says.
Atkinson also likes how Pak n Save does not provide free bags, ‘‘but they do provide paper and boxes and loads of people shop there.’’
Another Orewa resident, Christopher Sutton wants all bags to be biodegradable and believes there is an issue at hand.
‘‘I pick up so many from my beach walks. Some stores have biodegradable ones which feel really nice, although I agree, reducing packaging a lot would be the best.’’
‘‘If you shop at that organic store at Walnut Cottage they have biodegradable bags. You can shove them in your compost,’’ he says.
If Goff wins votes he will work with other members of parliament to promote the change through a Local Parliament Bill as this cannot be introduced as a bylaw.
This idea is also included in Goff’s environmental policy that focuses on restoring the health of Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf and harbours, and the planting of one million shrubs and trees over three years.