Queensland asked to go plastic-bag free during March

Queensland Conservation’s Plastic Bag Free Queensland campaign is committed to the state banning single-use plastic bags by 2015. As part of this, the organisation is encouraging people to not use single-use plastic shopping bags during the month of March.

Clean Up Australia Day is being held on Sunday 2 March. Plastic Bag Free March thus gives Queenslanders the chance to take steps to prevent the litter they will have only just finished picking up.

Toby Hutcheon, executive director of Queensland Conservation, said that finding an alternative to single-use plastic bags is easy.

“When shopping, you can take your own bags - any kind you like. Or ask retailers to provide alternatives, like compostable plastic bags or boxes.

“At home, you don’t need to rely on single-use plastic bags either. You can use newspaper in your rubbish bin, or there are compostable plastic alternatives if you prefer to use a bin liner.”

Plastic bags have only been in use by consumers worldwide since the 1960s, yet according to Keep Queensland Beautiful CEO David Curtin, they are one of the leading man-made pollutants on the planet.

“Almost 20% of plastic packaging items picked up around Queensland since April 2013 has been plastic bags,” he said.

The National Litter Index (NLI) report released in August 2013 found that Queensland is the worst-performing mainland state, while the Clean Up Australia Day 2012 Rubbish Report for Queensland showed that plastics make up 51% of the rubbish collected.

To register for the challenge, visit www.PlasticBagFreeQldMarch.org.au.