Did you know… concerned residents and businesses in Samford Valley, just outside Brisbane in Australia, decided they wanted to reduce or eliminate the use of plastic bags way back in 2012. This was well before the legislation to reduce plastic bag usage was enacted in Queensland. Plastic bags can take a thousand years to decompose and are responsible for the death of millions of marine animals, and for polluting our waterways.

An environmentally aware campaign called ‘Changing our Bag Habits’ provided free compostable shopping bags for 2,000 households. It also introduced initiatives to help people remember to bring their own reusable bags when going shopping because research identified this as a key barrier.

In addition, the local IGA store provided boxes where consumers could drop off and use reusable bags or collect boxes. Support for the project came from Moreton Bay Regional Council, the Pine Rivers Climate Action Network, Samford Green Street, Samford Chamber of Commerce and the Samford Sustainability Hub.

As it happens, the launch of the project coincided serendipitously with a media announcement and TV news coverage of the then-controversial proposed shift in government policy. That change was not implemented at the time and the rest of the state had to wait until 2018 for legislation to be put in place. Even then, it was only a ban on single-use plastic bags. For more info, read about the QLD Government plastic bag ban.

Green Street News | Published 6 November 2022