BDEC & City of Busselton Collaborate for Boomerang Bag project with young people
4 October 2016; 2.00pm – 4.00pm at Busselton Skate Park, 1 Scout Rd, Busselton

The project was aimed at young people to paint on recycled calico bags (bags donated from the National Youth Week, provided by CoB) and turn them into Boomerang Bags. Each participant was asked to paint two bags – one to keep and one to give away. We have collected the ‘give-away’ bags to donate to Pricey’s IGA in Busselton, as they are the only plastic-free grocery shop in Busselton.  

A total of approximately 40 bags were painted and decorated by children and youth, with 27 bags collected for donation. It was a very windy and cloudy day and the skate park was not overly busy.

What are Boomerang Bags?
Boomerang Bags ‘communities’ are groups of volunteers who get together to make reusable bags regularly for the wider community to use. People can either make bags solo, join a nearby Boomerang Bags community, start a community of their own, or simply get together with friends to make a few bags over a cuppa.

Special thanks to:
-    Silke Rothkamm – Project Officer BDEC
-    Denny Sansbrook – BDEC volunteer
-    Keeley Milner - Youth Development Trainee from the City of Busselton
-    City of Busselton
-    Boomerang Bags Dunsborough

A community driven initiative tackling plastic pollution at the grassroots level.

Have you heard about Boomerang Bags? The reusable shopping bags made by local community groups, schools and volunteers, with the aim to reduce the number of single-use plastic bags being used. The bags are left outside participating shops and supermarkets for people to borrow and bring back if they have forgotten their own reusable bags.

Part of the Plastic Free movement, Boomerang Bags are gaining momentum around Australia with over 35 communities currently taking part. According to the Boomerang Bags website, 4.2 million plastic bags have been replaced saving an estimated 7.5 tonnes of plastic waste from going into landfill – www.boomerangbags.org

Australia seems to be lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to banning the plastic bag with many countries taking the issue seriously by either banning the bags completely, charging a levy on bags to discourage use, or partially banning. So far South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and ACT have bans in place but the biggest states NSW, Queensland, Victoria and WA are still to take action.
 
Our community is taking the issue seriously with Boomerang Bags groups active in Dunsborough, Margaret River and Bunbury and IGA West Busselton has agreed to ban the plastic bag once current supply is used up.

BDEC had a chat to Chloe Simons who started the Dunsborough group to find out what prompted her to get involved.

Boomerang Bags – Dunsborough

What made you decide to say no to plastic bags and start the Boomerang Bags group?
"I had a quite sudden realisation of the impact our waste has on our planet and on our health. It is not only about plastic bags, but also plastic in general, over-consumption, chemicals in all our products, including cosmetics...Plastic bags are just a very easy plastic items to give up on and swap for a reusable equivalent. And coming from France where we adopted reusable shopping bags about 15 years ago, it was quite natural for me."

What has been the community and retailer response?
“I think so far Boomerang bags has been well accepted by our community. Not everyone will get the concept of bringing back, but that's alright! As long as people don't use plastic bags anymore... I think for retailers it is a win-win situation. They don't have to care about the Boomerang Bags, and they don't have to give away so many plastic bags for free.”

When is your next sewing bee and how can people get involved?
“Our next sewing bee will be on the 23rd of July, from 9am, at Happs Wines on Commonage road. People can contact me through the facebook page 'Say no to plastic bags in Dunsborough', or rock up on the 23rd! “

Do you work with other groups in the area?
“I am in contact with Boomerang Bags Margs and Bunbury, we meet sometimes and have joint sewing bees. Margs community is well established and they do a lot about sustainability down there! Especially for the month of July, They've got lots of events happening!”



Resources:

Say No To Plastic Bags Dunsborough / Boomerang Bags Events:
https://www.facebook.com/lasticbagsindunsborough/?fref=ts

Boomerang Bags - http://boomerangbags.org/

Greenpeace – Ban the Bag WA Petition: https://act.greenpeace.org.au/petitions/ban-the-bag-western-australia-1

SMH - Australia Falling Behind Third World on Global map of Plastic Bags
http://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/australia-falling-behind-third-world-on-global-map-of-plastic-bag-bans-20160407-go18ec.html

With plastic so ingrained in our everyday lives, it might be hard to imagine going even a day without using some form of plastic, let alone a whole month; but that is exactly what thousands of people have pledged to do as part of the annual Plastic Free July initiative.

“Plastic Free July aims to raise awareness of the problems and amount of single-use disposable plastic in our lives and challenges people to do something about it. You can sign up for a day, a week or the whole month and try to refuse ALL single-use plastic or try the TOP 4: plastic bags, water bottles, takeaway coffee cups and straws.” - www.plasticfreejuly.org

By saying NO to single-use plastic today you help to:

• reduce nearly 4 billion plastic bags used in Australia every year
• reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfill taking hundreds of years to break down
• reduce the amount of plastics that end up in our waterway and oceans which are often consumed by marine life

The movement originated in Perth, WA but is now a global challenge running in 90 countries with participants coming up with creative solutions to the single-use plastic problem, aiming to reduce the amount of plastic ending up in landfill and in our oceans and waterways.

Here are our top 6 ideas for reducing single-use plastic in your life:

1. Bring your own shopping bags
   You could either reuse any plastic bags you currently have in your house, or use a reusable fabric bag. Some stores like IGA even have Boomerang Bags that you can borrow and bring back next time.
2. Buy a reusable coffee cup
   Some cafes in the area even offer a small discount if you bring your own cup. Win/win!
3. Ditch the straw
4. Use a reusable water bottle
5. Set your produce free
   Your fruit and veggies don’t need to be in a plastic bag to be weighed at the checkout. Or use reusable bags.
6. Buy in bulk
   You can avoid plastic packaging for many food items by buying cereals, nuts and seeds etc in bulk from local markets

Resources:

Say No To Plastic Bags Dunsborough - https://www.facebook.com/lasticbagsindunsborough/?fref=ts
Boomerang Bags - https://www.facebook.com/boomerangbags/?fref=ts
Plastic Free July - http://www.plasticfreejuly.org/
Margaret River Plastic Free July - https://www.facebook.com/groups/137954373065787/
Plastic Free July South West - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1455376508111247/
One Million Women - Plastic Free July feature - http://www.1millionwomen.com.au/blog/get-ready-plastic-free-july/

“Australians use 3.92 billion plastic bags a year, that's over 10 million new bags being used every day. An estimated 3.76 billion bags or 20,700 tonnes of plastic are disposed of in landfill sites throughout Australia every year. Australians dump 7,150 recyclable plastic bags into landfills every minute or 429,000 bags every hour” - www.cleanup.org.au/au/Campaigns/plastic-bag-facts.html