Bag end: Plastic pushed out of town
A small South Wairarapa town is leading the charge in kicking singleuse plastic bags to the kerb and is challenging the rest of New Zealand to follow suit.
A group of business people and environmentally-minded citizens in Martinborough has launched a sweeping drive to minimise plastic use and get the whole town thinking about how it deals with waste.
Conor Kershaw, of Pain & Kershaw Four Square and Mitre 10 Martinborough, was fully supportive of the idea. Both the supermarket and the hardware store will be single-use plastic bag free come July 1.
Kershaw said they tried to go plastic bag free five years ago but the community wasn’t ready for it and there was some customer backlash.
The mood had changed and people were ready to modify their habits.
The town of 1600 people – including most retailers – have banded together and bought 10,000 re-usable Freetrade organic cotton shopping bags.
‘‘If a small town can demonstrate that they can do it, then other communities can do it and cities can do it. Hopefully this will also show the Government that there is a willingness among the public,’’ Kershaw said.
The supermarket will cease packaging any groceries at the check-out in single-use plastic bags and it is also trialling switching to paper bags in the fresh produce and deli sections.
Kershaw said although Mitre 10 was cutting out single-use plastic bags from July 1 nationwide, the Martinborough initiative had been driven by the town.
All Foodstuffs branded supermarkets such as Pak’N Save, New World and Four Square are removing single-use plastic bags from checkouts nationwide by the end of the year.
South Wairarapa Mayor Viv Napier said the plastic-free movement was gathering momentum and it was great to see Martinborough leading the way.
‘‘This is a small place that is taking a stand which is really encouraging to other communities. Just about all our businesses are onboard, which is amazing.’’
Josie Bidwill, of Martinboroughbased underwear manufacturer Thunderpants, sourced Martinborough’s 10,000 new shopping bags through Fair Trade Indian suppliers Chetna Project.
‘‘It’s very difficult to get rid of plastic completely, but we’re on the path.’’
Amanda Ritchie helped launch the initiative by starting a branch of Boomerang Bags in Martinborough with friend Carolyn Irwin, but they found the returnable handmade bags were too desirable.
When they were put out for public use at the supermarket, many didn’t come back.
The official launch of the latest community-wide drive was held at Martinborough School yesterday afternoon.
Each student was given a cotton shopping bag containing information on how to cut down on plastic waste.
One of the town’s most popular dairies and tearooms, Kitcheners, is not only going plastic bag free but is also encouraging people to bring their own coffee cups. Customers with ‘‘keep cups’’ get 50 cents off.
They have also got rid of plastic straws and packaged food in paper bags.
Martinborough retirees Patricia Hill and Maggie Verry were spotted sporting their re-usable bags as they exited the supermarket.
Hill was so supportive of the idea that she was planning to walk the streets and distribute the bags to residents.
‘‘It’s wonderful. We’ve been bringing our own bags for ages,’’ she said.
‘‘If a small town can demonstrate that they can do it, then other communities can do it and cities can do it. Hopefully this will also show the Government that there is a willingness among the public.’’ Conor Kershaw