Greens MP enlists in Guerrilla Tactics against Plastic Bags - 11 December 2008

Greens MP Ian Cohen will be officially ‘bagged’ this weekend when he receives the 500th Morsbag at the Bangalow Farmers markets in the NSW Northern Rivers. He joins a group of sociable guerrilla baggers who are taking matters into their own hands to tackle the plastic bag problem.

“Morsbags.com is a global project dedicated to making genuine green shopping bags from donated recycled fabrics such as old sheets and doona covers that would otherwise end up in landfill. The bags are made locally by volunteers and given away to shoppers to encourage them to give up their plastic bag habit,” says Morsbagger Jo Immig.

“I am honoured to be a part of such a creative grass roots movement that is trying to reduce the ecological damage of plastic bags. It’s initiatives such as Morsbags that really show up the retrograde mentality of major political parties and industry bodies such as the National Association of Retail Grocers,” says Greens MP Ian Cohen.

“Clean Up Australia collected nearly half a million plastic bags last year, and State and local governments spend about $200 million cleaning them up. In marine environments, plastic bags are serial killers. Marine wildlife often mistakes the bags as jellyfish and eats them. The whale, fish or turtle dies from intestinal blockage, floating to the surface awaiting the next victim,” says Jo Immig.

“South Australia has acknowledged the environmental impact of plastic bags and will have a plastic bag ban in full effect by May 2009. In Victoria, the four-week trial charging a 10c tax on single use plastic bags saw a 79% reduction in plastic bag use, achieved across the three trial areas. The Report also found that 86% of consumers supported the initiative to reduce plastic bag use,” says Mr Cohen.

“In NSW, plastic bags have continually featured in successive NSW Extended Producer Responsibility Priority Statements since 2004. The Department of Environment and Climate Change stated in the most recent priority statement that a producer responsibility scheme for plastic bags could be initiated in NSW in the coming 12 months. What are they waiting for?” says Cohen.


“The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and major supermarket chains were given a target of reducing single use plastic bags by 50% and to increase the recycling of these bags by between 15 and 30% by 2005. The ARA Code of Practice for the Management of Plastic Bags failed, only achieving a 34% reduction, yet the Environmental Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) have not stayed true to their word and initiated EPR Regulation,” says Cohen.

“The NSW Government stands out for its lack of action on plastic bags. This problem will never be solved by voluntary measures. It’s time for the NSW Government to act rather than continue to lag behind on this important environmental issue,” says Mr Cohen.