Ban the Bag NSW - Rally & Media Release
It was a blustery morning at Main Beach, Byron Bay. Raining in all the suburbs to the north, to the west, to the south, & out at sea to the east. We had a rare patch of sunshine to organise ourselves into our message for the NSW government.
Despite strong winds, our drone operators and cameramen gave the nod to push on. Slowly humans streamed from the streets to the sand. Wearing various shades of blue. With excitement we crouched in the sand, stretched streamers, and held hands with our fellow Earth-lovers to spell our message with our bodies. Soon it took shape & it was legible from the sky.
"BAN THE BAG NSW"
Our message read clear: we want NSW to join the rest of Australia in banning single use plastic bags.
Why?
- More than one million single-use plastic bags are used every minute!
- Every year approximately 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide.
- Over the last ten years Australian state environment ministers have pondered legislation to ban single-use plastic bags, in this time over 1.2 billion have ended up in the litter stream.
- Even as you are reading this, 7,150 plastic bags are going to “landfill.”
NSW must join the rest of Australia for a consistent national approach. To level the playing field.
We don’t want a weak ban. We want a strong ban.
We want a ban on light weight plastic bags. We don’t want them replaced with thicker plastic bags that claim to be “reusable.” We don’t want them replaced with biodegradable bags. Let’s face it, they could still choke a turtle or trap a bird. We want all single-use plastic bags banned from being distributed here in NSW. We can bring our own bags. We can use boxes. We can pay extra if we forget.
This is for you, Premier of NSW, Gladys Berejiklian, who I handed a reusable mermaid bag. For you Gabrielle, who I wore my mermaid shell top to our meeting in Bondi last year! Find the inner mermaid within and push for this important change!
Tag yourself in the Facebook Album. SHARE the images & media release. We all have different contacts, networks, circles, followings. Let's spread this message loud & clear.
Thank you Aerobot for the drone capture! The Modern Journal for snapping pics! Cameron for being the best director! Paul Hunt for being my eyes! All the LEGENDS for SHOWING UP FOR THE OCEANS!!
Copy & Paste this Media Release to share our message far & wide:
Kate Nelson
Plastic Free Mermaid
@plasticfreemermaid
18 November 2017
We are urging NSW Government to ban single-use plastic bags. The only state that has not banned bags in Australia.
BAN THE BAG NSW
Single-use plastic bags will not biodegrade in our lifetime, our children’s lifetime, our grand children’s lifetime, our great grandchildren’s lifetime, or our great great grandchildren’s lifetime.
More than one million single-use plastic bags are used every minute.
Every year approximately 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide.
Scientists estimate it will take all of our single-use plastics 500-1,000 years to degrade into the environment.
Over the last ten years Australian state environment ministers have pondered legislation to ban single-use plastic bags, in this time over 1.2 billion have ended up in the litter stream. Even as you are reading this, 7,150 plastic bags are going to “landfill.” What a waste.
We are urging our state government to join the rest of Australia and take action to ban single-use plastic bags.
We gathered this morning in Byron Bay on our main beach to show that we are sick of seeing them blowing around our parks, getting caught in tree branches, and inevitably flowing to our waterways. In all cases, they pose threats to wildlife. In landfill they take up space that we no longer have. NSW already has to drive our waste up to landfills in Queensland.
NSW is the last state in Australia to take action on plastic bags. South Australia banned plastic bags in 8 years ago! Northern Territory’s plastic bag ban began on 1 September and ACT’s on the 1 of November in 2011. Tasmania’s ban began on 1 November 2013. Last year Queensland rose to the challenge and banned plastic bags, which will go into effect July of 2018. WA joined in September and Victoria jumped on in October, both bans set to go into effect in July 2018.
Our NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, avoids the topic.
When I first moved to Australia two years ago, I joined the Boomerang Alliance to meet with Mark Speakman when he was Minister of the Environment. I told him about my work on the plastic bag ban in California and encouraged him to take action. We had tens of thousands of signatures and a huge stack of petitions. We had all the science. We had all the facts. They wanted us to provide more evidence to track the impact of plastic bags in environment and get more statistics for plastic bags harming creatures specifically in NSW. Plastic bags are lightweight and blow off the beach, unlike bottles or heavier trash that might sit on the sand long enough for us to “track the impact.”
We need NSW to join the other states and territories for a consistent national approach. To level the playing field. For all shops and stores to have clarity from the government. To allow chain stores and franchises to roll out national changes for the bags.
We don’t want a weak ban. We want a strong ban.
We want a ban on light weight plastic bags. We don’t want them replaced with thicker plastic bags that claim to be “reusable.” We don’t want them replaced with biodegradable bags. Let’s face it, they could still choke a turtle or trap a bird. We want all single-use plastic bags banned from being distributed here in NSW. We can bring our own bags. We can use boxes. We can pay extra if we forget.
We in Byron Bay are so lucky to have such a beautiful marine environment. We are sick of seeing images of sea creatures suffering because of our love of convenience. We are sick of whales washing up dead on beaches with bellies full of plastic bags. We are sick of seeing turtles unable to swim below the surface of the water because they have swallowed too much plastic and are now too buoyant to dive deep.
We can do better. We are incredibly intelligent innovative creatures. We must do better for our planet and for future generations. They will surely wonder what we were thinking using a material that takes 1000 years to biodegrade for single-use items. NOW is the time to make a change.
Ban the bag NSW.
CONTACT
Kate Nelson
instagram.com/plasticfreemermaid
facebook.com/plasticfreemermaid
0411 893 543