From now until July 2015, Green MP Denise Roche will be touring the country talking about why it's time for New Zealand to be plastic bag free.
There are several ways you can get involved: sign a petition, attend an upcoming talk, write a letter, request a postcard or a sticker and sign up for updates as we build this campaign.
Thousands of New Zealanders already choose a reusable bag rather than plastic when they’re at the supermarket or shops – it’s time for John Key and the Government to get with the programme and show some leadership on this issue.
- Denise Roche MP, Green Party waste spokesperson
Write a letter to your local paper
Letters to the editor are a great way to gain more support for our campaign to Say No To Plastic Bags. They can sometimes generate other letters to the editor to either oppose or support your stance.
The email address to send a letter to the editor are generally printed inside page two of your newspaper.
Here’s a sample letter to the editor:
Dear Editor,
I am one of many people in New Zealand who is voluntarily trying to reduce my use of plastic bags.
If New Zealand is serious about keeping our clean, green ‘100% Pure’ brand then we need to do something about the amount of plastic that is entering our natural environment and, in particular, our marine environment.
There are 200 species that are known to ingest plastic bags and over 100,000 sea creatures and birds die from eating plastic. When single-use plastic bags break down in the ocean into micro-plastic, it enters the food chain once they have been consumed by fish, and potentially impact our own health.
We are lagging behind other countries who have already taken steps to reduce plastic bag use or have banned them altogether. The Minister for the Environment has the power to declare plastic bags a ‘priority product’ under the Waste Minimisation Act that would trigger a compulsory product stewardship scheme. This means introducing a levy on each bag (like Ireland for example) or an outright ban (like Bangladesh) could be swiftly introduced.
We are well overdue for some action to reduce plastic bag use, the Government needs to act now.
Yours sincerely,
Name:
Address:
Email:
Write a letter to your local MP
Personal letters to MPs are a great way to let them know your concerns, for example:
Dear…….MP
I am writing to ask you to do everything in your power to help reduce and phase out the use of plastic bags.
NZers use around 1 billion single-use plastic bags every year and while most are disposed of appropriately they are a huge problem when they enter our marine environment. Two hundred different marine species are known to have ingested plastic bags after they have broken down into micro-plastic, which can be consumed by fish enter the food chain. Furthermore, most plastic bags are made from oil or gas which is a waste of our non-renewable resources and if they were phased out altogether it would be the equivalent of taking up to 3700 cars off the road in terms of reducing our CO2 emissions.
Like many people I use a reusable bag for my shopping as much as possible. Voluntary behaviour change is not going to be enough to solve the problem though and regulation is needed.
The Minister for the Environment has the power to declare single use plastic bags a ‘priority product’ under the Waste Minimisation Act which would trigger a mandatory product stewardship scheme. I ask that you ask the Minister to declare plastic bags a ‘priority product’ so that a levy or charge can be introduced as a disincentive to single-use plastic bags and that they then be phased out altogether.
Yours sincerely,
Name:
Address:
Email: