Plastic NEVER goes away. Every bit created is in our world forever and we are filling up fast! It’s in our oceans, in our food chain, and unless we do something, the consequences could be horrific.
That’s why the Northern Illawarra’s Surfrider Foundation has joined the State body to lobby the State Government to introduce a ban on single-use and bio-degradable plastic bags.
Australians use 13.5 million new, single-use plastic bags every day. That’s 5 billion a year that are in our world forever.
According to Surfrider, it’s an environmental disaster. Local spokesperson Susie Crick says a bag that is used for an hour will last forever. “It’s estimated 7000 plastic bags go to landfill each minute and less than 4% are recycled.
“We believed plastic does not belong in any natural environment and particularly NOT in the marine environment. Because they are light weight and travel easily, many of these bags make their way into the waterways and oceans, choking, entangling and killing wildlife.
“We have been collaborating embarking on a campaign to halt single-use and biodegradable bags in NSW. Currently, SA, NT , Tas and the ACT have implemented bag bans and it’s time for NSW to follow suit and show some environmental responsibility.
“We all live downstream and these bags are washing up on our beaches and blowing into our parklands.
“As surfers, and stewards of the ocean, we demand and campaign that action is taken to protect our marine ecosystem. We can’t continue to turn a blind eye to the contribution plastic bags are having on our oceans. A single-use and biodegradable bag ban needs to happen NOW to give our waterways and oceans the best chance of survival. ”
To show your support for this campaign, you can sign the petition HERE
