How to Clean Up Australia, one bag at a time.

At AdaptNSW’s Annual forum Dr Nick Watts profiled his recent publication The Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change, and reiterated three sobering key findings:

• the impacts of climate change are unequivocal and potentially irreversible, affecting the health of populations around the world right now;
• delayed action on climate change has jeopardised human lives and livelihoods;
• there is reason for optimism with significant action in the past 5 years and 2017 being a year of momentum change presenting clear and unprecedented opportunities for public health.

Whilst plastic bags may seem a world away from climate change, the Clean Up Australia Day crew remind us that plastic bags are made from non-renewable natural resources such as crude oil, gas and coal, the use of which to make the bags generates greenhouse gases that are driving climate change. Just 8.7 plastic checkout bags contain enough embodied petroleum energy to drive a car 1km.

Plastic bags take over 1000 years to breakdown, in Australia 7,150 bags are thrown away each minute, 4 billion bags used annually (about 200/person) and 10% of marine plastic is bags that kill 100,000s of marine animals globally each year. Plastic bags are recyclable and there are recycle bins at the supermarkets. If plastic is not recycled, this embodied energy is lost from the resource chain.

Over the next 6 months the major super markets will be phasing out the single-use plastic bags. More durable, reusable plastic bags will be available to purchase for 15c or you could start making your own long-lasting bag.

Clean Up Australia Day sites

The Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group will be doing their best to reduce plastic waste locally. On Sunday March 4th the Clean Up Australia Day project will focus on collecting plastics from the foreshore, anyone can participate and clean up a stretch of your favourite bit of Lake Mac or register on the Clean Up Australia Day website to formally participate locally. 

The TASNG crew will be radiating out from the yacht club from 9am on Sunday 4th March and also assisting around the Lions Park from 8-10am. You can register here.

In the near future TASNG will be hosting a bag making workshop in preparation for the transition away from single-use plastic bags.

How Convenience is Killing Our Plant – An infographic by the team at Arte Ideas

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