National Campaign to Ban Plastic Bags
LUSH Cosmetics Launches National Campaign to Ban Plastic Bags - Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide are campaigning for a ban on plastic shopping bags in all cities throughout Australia and New Zealand, LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics is sending giant ‘bag monsters’ to descend on lunchtime shoppers, urging them to swap their plastic shopping bags for a free, reusable, eco-friendly tote bag. LUSH is proud of its policy against plastic carrier bags and we want to see Federal Government, other retailers, and our customers support a campaign to get them out of our cities.
Starting 2 July 2008 customers can come in-store to find out more information and sign a petition to the Environment Protection and Heritage Council, urging them to ban plastic bags and promote the only truly sustainable alternative - reusable canvas tote bags. A national petition will also go live on Animals Australia’s website for customers who want to take part but do not live close to a LUSH store.
Similar initiatives have been successful around the world. This month China imposed a tax on single use plastic bags and banned them from all public transportation, including buses, trains and planes and from airports and scenic locations. In April 2008, South Australia announced a ban of plastic bags from large supermarkets, while last year San Francisco banned plastic bags from all supermarkets and pharmacies and the Irish government introduced a plastic bag tax that has slashed consumption by over 90%. Paris, Great Britain, Tanzania, South Africa, Taiwan, and others have all banned or are moving towards reducing the use of plastic bags.
Campaigning against plastic bags is a natural extension of LUSH’s work in leading retailers to tackle waste. Over 50 percent of LUSH products are sold to the customer ‘naked’, with no packaging at all, and the company has recently become the first major cosmetics retailer to switch over to manufacturing using only 100% recycled plastic bottles and containers. "While single-use plastic bags are given away to customers for free, it’s always the environment that pays the true cost of our disposal culture,” says Mark Lincoln, Managing Director Lush Australasia Retail Pty Ltd. “The two things people should take when shopping are their wallets and their reusable tote bag.”
Glenys Oogjes, Animals Australia Executive Director added, “Shoppers aren’t aware that plastic bags have a devastating impact on marine animals such as whales, seals, birds and turtles. More than 100,000 animals die each year after ingesting or becoming entangled in them. Animals Australia completely supports Lush’s campaign to have plastic bags banned.” Why does LUSH want to trash plastic bags? Australians use approximately 5.6 billion petroleum-based shopping bags each year and they seem to be everywhere - they litter our streets, they harm the environment, and they kill wildlife. While plastic bags get used for less than an hour, they can take up to 1,000 years to break down in the environment.
Please find more information below:http://femail.com.au/blog/index.php?/archives/38-Ban-Plastic-Bags.html
