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Kiwis challenged to not have a Rubbish Christmas

Kiwis challenged to not have a Rubbish Christmas

Youth organisation, Plastic Diet, is challenging kiwis to not have a Rubbish Christmas. Founder Florence Reynolds explains, “We all love opening presents, eating more than we should, and spending time at the beach. But after the celebrations, the Christmas Grinch stays behind in the form of piles of trash.”

Each year, New Zealanders produce 2.46 million tons of waste1. In Auckland alone this is 1.2 million tons a year - the size of the rugby field at Eden Park piled twice the size of the Skytower 2.

Recent studies have revealed that there are more than 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in our oceans. Marine Biologist, Josefina Peters-Didier explains the problem. “Plastic pollution in the ocean is contaminating the food chain, ultimately impacting on what we can eat. This Christmas, give the gift of healthy kaimoana seafood to future generations by helping to reduce plastic waste at its source.”

Florence suggests that power lies in the choice of gifts and produce. “Producers ultimately need to change as there is often little choice for consumers in terms of the packaging on products they wish to buy. However we can each encourage better practices by supporting those who are doing better.”

Some rules of thumb for gift choice is prioritising items that will last, those without unnecessary packaging, local products, or gifting memories like vouchers or gifts that give to others such as Oxfam’s Unwrapped series.

Visit the Plastic Diet website www.plasticdiet.org for more tips on how to not have a rubbish Christmas.

PlasticDiet.org is a community group that aims to reduce single-use plastic consumption and pollution by working to promote solutions and awareness to the issue of plastic pollution.

ENDS

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