Making Campus Plastic Bag Free

[jodi peacham]

As we all know plastic is very damaging to the environment. At the current rate the world produces 200 million tons of plastic a year. Less the 3.5% is recycled.
Plastics do not biodegrade, they photo degrade, breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil, waterways, oceans and entering the food web when ingested by animals.
Scientists estimate each plastic item could last in the environment anywhere between 400 to 1000 years, so every bit of pastic that was made is still here.. wow.. thats a lot of junk.

So that leads to the question, what are we going to do about it??
The newly formed 'environmental working group' in the SA has a plan to make Campus plastic bag free.
Around the country town and viliages are turing away from plastic bags and promoting reusable and biodegradable bags in a first step to reducing plastics.
Modbury was the first town www.plasticbagfree.com

To progress this idea the environmental group will be holding a talk / video / presentation on alternatives in the New Year, followed by inviting all shops to choose a date for the switch over.

If you want to know more please contact me [e-mail]

I think that on this Campus plastic bags are greatly unnecessary as most people have a bag on thier backs anyway, and most of the things bought are small, ie a sandwhich a book etc.
What do you think?

[Carolinekemp]

There's a limited amount of hydrocarbon on the planet and we're using it up to make unnecessary things like plastic bags and packaging?  What's that about?  Surely we should be conserving them for more important things...

[Johanino]

I think plastic bags have their uses. I mean my kitchen is minute. I don't have a bin I just have hooks. I don't have anywhere I can compost (I live in a multi storey tower block). My last composting expo was homemade manure in the juicer.

But there is another good reason not to use plastic bags on campus. They just kill your arms! I use a shoulder shopping bag and a cotton/hemp bag and with those two I can near enough get all my groceries in for the week. In fact I can't get much more in my ladybird 'granny' trolley. Though sometimes I have to use the trolley.

I think for emergencies if we could get the retailers to use recycled paper bags it would be a lot better. I also think if we could have some Aberdeen Uni hemp bags made that would be good as well as a tourist buy (sorry don't know the word. Need breakkie).

I don't think we should charge for the paper bags because students get fleeced enough. I am shocked how much the costas on campus charge for coffee. I think it would be better if they subsidized fair trade coffee refills for flasks.

Anyhow....need breakkie. WILL GET BREAKKIE.

Jo