Bring Your Own Bag: Think Beyond Plastic Helps Move Auckland Towards Goal of Sustainability

16 June, 2017

Grey Lynn Waste Away presents Bring Your Own Bag: Think Beyond Plastic, a fun and interactive event educating public about the effects of plastic bags on the environment and society while offering creative ways to avoid their use

For the third year, Grey Lynn 2030 Waste Away (GLWA) is hosting its plastic bag-free event, joining in the International Plastic Bag Free Day movement. In the past, Grey Lynn’s 2 Countdown supermarkets have joined other local retailers by removing or discouraging the use of plastic bags in their stores for the day. BYOB: Think Beyond Plastic will feature bag-making activities, a multimedia corner for kids and adults, displays of plastic bag alternatives and compostable bag samples, artwork from local students, giveaways from EcoStore, etc. Speakers begin at 1:00pm and will include Mayor of Auckland, Phil Goff , Key Speaker; Denise Roche, Green MP and advocate for a plastic bag- free New Zealand; and Kristy Lorson, Zero Waste blogger and Founder of Zero Waste in NZ.

BYOB: Think Beyond Plastic will highlight the detrimental environmental effects of single-use plastic bags, while inspiring people to change their behaviour to be proactive and think about their impact on the environment. Plastic bags have been in use for only 35 years - major supermarkets in the United States did not implement their use until 1982, with New Zealand following suit in 1983. Plastics do not go away but degrade into micro particles, potentially leaching toxics into water sources and slowly entering the food chain. In an ocean environment, plastics have created massive trash mounds, larger than the state of Texas, comprised of billions of bits of microplastic that have been photodegraded by the sun.

Colinda Rowe, Chair of Grey Lynn 2030, says, “New Zealanders use over 1 billion plastic bags per year: On average, each one is used for 15 minutes before being discarded. Many then end up in the marine environment, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of marine animals, globally.

“Many cities and countries around the world have recognised the damage caused by single use plastic bags and have taken action to ban or put a charge on bags, resulting in a dramatic decrease in plastic bags used.

“Grey Lynn 2030 Waste Away group and many other groups and organisations around New Zealand are taking action this July to raise awareness and demonstrate to the New Zealand government that we too should be following suit and banning the bag. Auckland prides itself on its beautiful beaches and marine environment - we should not soil it with our plastic trash.”

Bring Your Own Bag: Think Beyond Plastic will take place on 2nd July, 2017 in Grey Lynn, at The Bank Hall, at the corners of Tuarangi and Great North Roads. Sustainable food truck Very Good Dumplings will be located outside the venue, offering nutritious food for purchase on compostable tableware. Grey Lynn 2030 Waste Away’s goal is to help people to move forward towards a plastic bag-free future. BYOB will be multi-media, hands-on, educational and proactive - and ultimately a way to positively take responsibility for our collective waste.

Supporters of this BYOB: Our Seas Our Future, One Bag at a Time, Plastic Free Tairawhiti, Grey Lynn 2030 Waste Away, Tamaki WRAP, Honeywrap, Gecko Bag Collective, Plastic Bag Free Picton, Rethinking Plastic Revolution, Love Titirangi, Say NO to Plastic Bags Rotorua, Plastic Bag Free St Heliers, Plastic Bag Free Thames, One-Use Plastic Bag Free Otautahi-Christchurch, Para Kore, Ecostore

**Grey Lynn 2030 Waste Away: Solutions for a Waste Free Community**

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