Please note that this video contains a tiny amount of coarse language – watch at your peril!
We use over a billion plastic bags a year here in New Zealand, which results in 40,000 bags ending up in landfill an hour. Supermarkets in New Zealand have been particularly slack about reducing their use of plastic bags, and we haven’t seen a lot of action from our Government either, so it’s down to us to make the change.
Luckily there’s some really clever crafters out there making great alternatives to plastic bags which are not only reusable, durable, and often made from recycled or upcycled materials, but they’re also really stylish – social responsibility aside, these bags are gorgeous!
Featured above is a small selection from the Bags & Purses section on Felt: Eco Girl tote by Rosa-Mayde, Three Cats tote bag by In My Backyard, Beanbags Clean Coffee Tote Bag, Long Lean Tote with leather detail by Annie Dry, Tote-tastic! by Emma McCleary and Paisley Tote Bag by SoChic.
Feel like you need to do more? As well as making a statement by taking your canvas bags to the supermarket, you can support campaigns like noplasticbags.org.nz and GetReal to help reduce plastic bag use in New Zealand.
In the words of Tim Minchin in his awesome environmental anthem: “Just think about the world and how the world would be fantastic if we could get rid of all the plastic!”
