Rural City of Wangaratta, Victoria, is asking the community to pass up the plastic in favour of a more sustainable option.
This is just one key message of Council’s Don’t Bag It: Say no to Plastic Bags campaign.
Don’t Bag It – Say no to Plastic Bags aims to raise awareness of the problems with single use plastic bags, and discuss ways to avoid single use plastic at home, school and in the wider community.
Council’s Director Infrastructure Services, Alan Clark, said the campaign provides a timely conduit for community discussion, given Council’s strategic direction and the Victorian Government’s commitment to ban single use light weight plastic bags.
“Council’s Waste Strategy has just been up for consultation, and one of the key elements is looking at how we can reduce single use plastic.
“These plastic bags fill our landfill, harm our wildlife and break up into smaller and smaller fragments that continue to cause environmental harm.
“They often end up in the wrong places, like our rivers and the ocean, causing damage to the environment.
“There is also a huge cost and closer to home Council is seeing this with plastic bags in the recycling stream.
“This campaign is designed to raise awareness of the issue and provide some practical solutions to help people use less single use plastic.”
The campaign will includes pop-up information stores, and the distribution of eco-friendly postcards and stickers with a series of simple messages to make people stop and think about how they use plastic bags.