No more free plastic bags GetReal hits the streets

No more free plastic bags. GetReal hits the streets

wo GetReal campaign teams will be taking to the streets of South Island towns* after Easter, as part of their campaign to stop supermarkets giving away plastic bags.

GetReal team leader Angus Ho described the action as “low-tech meets high-tech”. The teams have a mobile street office each, which they will set up the main street of each town.

The mobile office is a souped-up wheelie bin, branded with GetReal stickers. Inside the wheelie bin is a platform for the laptop and a board with photos and messages from GetReal supporters.

The aim of the street action will be to collect sign-ups for the GetReal letter to the two big New Zealand supermarket chains, and to connect campaigners with partner organisations. Information about the harm that plastic bags cause and about better alternatives will also be available for shoppers.

GetReal is writing to Progressive and Foodstuffs on behalf of all their supporters, demanding that supermarkets introduce a small charge on plastic bags.

“A small charge has been shown to quickly change behavior and reduce plastic bag use by more than 80 percent” said Mr Ho. Because plastic bags are free, Kiwis are taking home one billion plastic bags each year. One billion bags, that’s just crazy!

“If the supermarkets gave away groceries for free, we’d all take home way more food than we actually need," said the other GetReal team leader Sophie Ward.

"If shoppers have to pay for a bag, even 10 cents or 20 cents, they’re much more likely change their behavior and remember their reusable bags or find another way.

“Burying almost a billion plastic bags in NZ landfills every year and having the rest end up in bushes and trees, in rivers and streams or ingested by wildlife is a BIG problem. Plastic bags are a waste of precious resources, alternatives exist. It's time to make a change now.”

"When people start looking at the way they use plastic bags, they start looking at other aspects of their life," said Ms Ward. "It can be a wake-up call to think a bit harder about our impact on the environment and the way we use resources."

GetReal campaigners are taking the road-show around the South Island this week, with stops in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wanaka, Queenstown, Oamaru, Timaru, Palmerston and Hampden.

Anyone wanting to support the GetReal campaign to get supermarkets stop giving away plastibags, can go to the website www.getreal.org.nz

Please see attached press itinerary of GetReal teams. Feel free to call Angus or Sophie on the day to find out exactly where they are.

Angus has some photos of the mobile office. For a copy, call or email him.

ENDS

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