FREQUENT letter writer to the Post Stuart Mawbey is on a mission to ban the humble plastic shopping bag.
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He and ‘a few concerned citizens of Goulburn’ have written to Member for Goulburn Pru Goward calling for the ‘banning of free plastic shopping bags provided at supermarkets and other shops in the Goulburn Local Government Area (LGA) and across the state of NSW’.
“I’ve seen evidence of bad plastic bag pollution in the small reserve behind the Goulburn tip, and they also pollute many areas of the local ecology, especially near the Wollondilly River and other areas,” he said.
Mr Mawbey thought of the idea after living in South Australia for a time, where legislation to ban plastic bags in supermarkets and associated shops became law in 2009. The Northern Territory and the ACT governments also considered implementing the reform.
The ban came after a study undertaken by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute at the University of South Australia in 2008, showing that nine in 10 shoppers actually took reusable bags to do their shopping, compared to only six-in-ten before the ban was implemented.
“These things are everywhere and pollute the natural environment,” Mr Mawbey said.
“The solution I came up with was to carry a fabric shopping trolley around with me every time I go shopping, and also whenever I go to Aldi I try to re-use their bags.”
Mr Mawbey did some research into the Local Government Act 1993 and found that there were no legal requirements for local Councils to implement these changes.
“Our understanding of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW), chapters 7 & 8 (Functions of local government) does not provide any legislative anchor from which a City Council can ban free shopping bags in their LGA,” he states in the letter to Ms Goward.
“We would like you to consider amending the Act to allow any local government to ban these free shopping bags and require people to utilise reusable bags.”
He and a few other concerned residents gathered at the Lilac City markets held at St Saviours Cathedral on Saturday and collected signatures towards the ban becoming a reality.
“I’m hoping we will get a positive response to this campaign, because although plastic bags might seem convenient, people should be able to change their behaviour by using reusable bags,” Mr Mawbey said.
