Beautiful willow an alternative to wasteful plastic

Green Party Waste Spokesperson and anti-plastic bag campaigner, Mike Ward, has a beautiful willow basket to give away to a careful and conscientious Nelson shopper.

Golden Bay basket weaver Peter Greer gave the basket to Mr Ward last year when the Nelson-based MP announced his intention to introduce a private member's bill to levy plastic shopping bags. Mr Ward is keen to hear from anybody who knows of suitable recipients for the willow work of art.

"With most of the supermarkets promoting reusable bags, it is now time to reward the people who make the effort to use the environmentally friendly multi-use alternatives," said Mr Ward.

"While we will be looking for people taking their own bags shopping, we will also be peeking inside the bags to see whether people are buying local products and how much packaging is on the purchases.

"While plastic bags only make up a tiny portion of the total waste stream by weight, they are a particularly messy, dangerous and easily avoided portion. While I will be delighted if my private member's bill is drawn and passed I would like to think that there are plenty of Nelson people who are smart enough to do the right thing even without the legislation."

New Zealanders use 3.2 million plastic bags everyday and 90 per cent of them are imported, which just happens to be the same percentage that plastic bag usage dropped by when the Irish introduced their levy.

People wishing to nominate recipients for the willow basket can contact the Greens' Nelson office on (03) 545 9284.

© Scoop Media

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