The Plastic Bag Challenge

To prove that it can be done to myself and to others I embarked on a journey of monitoring and curbing my plastic bag usage. The Federal Government department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts have set up a plastic bag challenge and I used this as a framework for the project. (http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/waste/plastic-bags/challenge.html)
Step one: Count your bags!
Using the Bag Yourself a Better Environment Household Plastic Bag Survey (I was able to keep tabs on bags received, reused, used (i.e. as bin liners of pet tidy bags) and recycled. Having the entire household communicate and cooperate in this counting for a week was more of a challenge than I had anticipated but in the end everyone recognised the importance of the task at hand. The results were a little shocking. It was apparent that each resident of the house thought his/her plastic bag usage was minimal but when combined the numbers climbed. The tally went like this: bags received= 15, bags reused=0, bags used=5, recycled=0. Our reckless use was obvious! http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/publications/waste/plastic-bags/survey.html)
Step two: Reduce your use and recycle your plastic bags.
With dictator-like efficiency I implemented a complete ban on plastic bags from supermarkets, produce suppliers and butchers for one week and to ease the pain of this transition I purchased three organic calico bags for each member of the house including myself. Remarkably there was a positive, enthusiastic reaction to this new regime. The new calico bags were kept in the car for accessibility and were regularly used. At the end of the week only two new plastic bags had reached the house, one from a chemist and the other from a calico-less trip to the market. All in all a good result! Another visible benefit of the project was the depletion of the already overflowing bag drawer. The mere fact that the inflow of bags had been vastly reduced meant that the outflow was more resourceful.
Step three: Remember…
This turned out to be the most challenging step. Initial enthusiasm waned and I noticed plastic slowly creeping back into our routine in the weeks after the ban. We had talked about the importance of maintaining our new custom but the ease and acceptability of plastic bag use snuck back in. This highlights that the challenge does not lie in creating awareness of the overuse of plastic but in changing usage behaviours. Supermarket and Government action are vital in breaking the consumer behaviour patterns that dictate how and when we use plastic bags.