By ANEEKA SIMONIS
BUNYIP is close to launching a campaign to reduce the amount of plastic bags in the town.
Bunyip resident Glenda Pitman is collaborating with a range of locals from Bendigo Community Bank, IGA and Bunyip Primary School on the project in the hope of creating a plastic bag free town.
“Plastic bags are forever … they never biodegrade and will be in our environment for generations to come with compounding effects,” Ms Pitman said.
“We are working towards Bunyip becoming a plastic bag free town and inspiring other towns in the shire to do the same.”
The campaign, which will be launched in March, will see each Bunyip Primary School student take home a calico bag with an embedded logo they helped design.
Each student has already taken part in an educational session about the impact of plastic bags on the environment.
“A simple habit change is all that is needed to have an impact on this issue,” Ms Pitman said.
Bendigo Community Bank, which will supply 5000 calico bags as part of the initial supply, hope the campaign changes the mindset of younger people who will be affected by future pollution as well as parents.
“We hope the students go home to their mums and dads with the bags and it increases their awareness about the issue,” said Bunyip and District Community Bank Branch Manager Sue Dubbeld.
“We are hoping to organise a voucher mail-out so that every house owner in Bunyip can came collect a free bag as well.”
IGA Bunyip Manager Mary Veli said eliminating plastic bags in supermarkets was difficult, but the store was slowly making headway.
“We use environmentally-friendly plastic bags and have reduced the reusable bags to cost price,” she said.
“There has been a slight uptake in sales … people buy them, the problem is getting them to bring them back or getting them to remember to get them out of the boot.”
The environmental campaign will also see Bunyip retailers supplied with a “trader’s kit“ to help with the transition away from plastic bags.
It is due to launch in March. Trader’s kits will be available earlier at Bendigo Bank’s business expo on Thursday 26 February.
