Plastic meltdown
In New Zealand we use 1.6 billion plastic bags every year. Emma Clifton looks at the call to ban single-use plastic bags, and shares other solutions to reduce our alarming level of plastic pollution.
It’s three times the size of France and lies somewhere in between Hawaii and California. But it’s not the latest holiday destination, it’s actually a floating nightmare of trash. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is 1.6 million km long and is the perfect retort to people who think that recycling really isn’t all that important. The United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) released a report in 2006 which revealed that over 46,000 pieces of plastic rubbish are floating in every square mile of the ocean today. And it’s even infiltrating our clean green New Zealand – in February, US researchers found that Wellington’s Oriental Bay has some of the highest levels of plastic pollution in the world. The convenience of plastic has made it a staple of our daily life for so long, but as the world becomes more aware of the cost that comes with that convenience, a range of solutions and movements are springing into action.
OUTRIGHT BAN
April this year was a big month for plastic pollution: On April 7, a dead sperm whale washed up on the shores of Spain with almost 30kg of plastic rubbish in its stomach. On April 12, the government kicked off
its discussion over the future of single-use plastic bags in New Zealand, with a submission from Greenpeace calling for an outright ban instead of a levy. “A ban is a stronger signal to the public, which says plastic bags are so harmful and toxic that we don’t allow them. It starts to build the cultural awareness we need to tackle the larger issue of single-use plastic in general,” says Greenpeace’s Oceans Manager
Emily Hunter.
One of the first companies in New Zealand to commit to a ban was the supermarket chain Countdown. Back in August 2017, research conducted by the company found 81 per cent of loyal customers supported the reduction of plastic bags in New Zealand and a further 49 per cent of them felt it was up to retailers to be taking the lead. Kiwis currently use 1.6 billion plastic bags a year, and Countdown provides 350 million of them. So, they decided to make a change, announcing last October that they would phase out single-use plastic carrier bags from their checkouts and online shopping services by the end of 2018 – making them the first in this field to do so.
REUSE OR REFUSE
June 5 marks World Environmental Day and the theme for 2018 is Beat Plastic Pollution, with the tagline: “If you can’t reuse it, refuse it.” It’s a handy phrase to keep in mind going about your daily life; we have become so used to the convenience of single-use items that it requires a habit shift to reduce our reliance on them. But once you become aware of just how much plastic you’re using and discarding – and the fact that it remains in our environment permanently – you can’t help but slowly make changes to the way you live your life. Companies like Countdown are making it easier to create that lifestyle shift by both highlighting the problem and offering an easy alternative. It’s a step in the right direction to reducing the plastic pollution we all create every year.