6ththMar Mar2014 2018 27 Jan-- 12 3rdthFeb
FIRST ON THE STREET
No No 434 640
LAKES WEEKLY BULLETIN
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IN O 11 SI BS D E
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As you pick up this copy of the Lakes Weekly during your morning routine, I can imagine hundreds of copies sitting in shopping trolleys full of groceries around the Queenstown Lakes District. My question to you shoppers is this: can you refrain from putting said groceries in a plastic single-use shopping bag? A couple of weeks ago I was blessed to have my parents visit Queenstown from the UK, and as we marvelled at the breath-taking azure views of Lake Wakatipu from their hotel suite, they commented about their Kiwi supermarket experience. Why is everyone still using plastic bags? Isn’t New Zealand supposed to be green? With the uber-successful LOTR franchises, you can forgive foreigners’ preconceptions of New Zealand of being a land full of hobbits, elves and dwarves; a vision of an unspoilt clean paradise from a pre-Industrial age. After a bit of research it appears my parents were correct. In NZ we use 350 bags each, every year. Plus, a shockingly low 2% of them are recycled. That’s 1.715 billion plastic bags going into NZ landfill every year, where they take 1000 years to decompose. The mind boggles. Many end up in the ocean where they poison fish and in turn they re-enter the food chain, and we end up eating the plastic inside the fish. Gross. It appears we are behind other countries on this issue. Across the pond there is state-wide banning either implemented or being implemented, and in the UK, there has been a mandatory levy for over 2 years, and as a result they have seen reduced consumption of bags by 85% in just six months after it was introduced. The levy has proved so successful now that the big supermarket chains are about to stop stocking them altogether. This does go a long way to explain my parent’s recent surprise at our shopping habits.
Leanne Malcolm, Jeff Wilson, Carolyn Hill, Micheal Goldstein and Kirsty Sinclair at the Village Green party at the NZ Golf Open at Millbrook on Thursday. (Photo: Jodi Walters)
We shouldn’t despair just yet because I feel there is definitely hope on the horizon. Over the last year there has been a growing public opposition to plastic bags, showing that many support a full-on ban, and even more want a mandatory levy. So, it’s time to push our government to make a change for the better. Last week a petition signed by 60,000 New Zealanders including our own Mayor Jim Boult on behalf of QLDC was presented to parliament. Other signatories included the Mayors of Christchurch, Wellington, Nelson and many of the big businesses that use single use bags like Countdown and Bunnings. Sounds like everyone is on board with this so why wait? We should be acting now as individuals to cut out using plastic bags altogether. Yes, sometimes we do get lazy and it is an extra thing to worry about, but with a bit of time it is definitely something we can all get used to. I really feel that all of us living here owe it to the incredible beauty of this town and the wonderful nature around us, to act in a responsible environmental manner. Plastic bags gone today, takeaway coffee cups gone tomorrow. Edward MacIntosh English Bloke, Queenstown Local
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EVERY WEDNESDAY FROM 9PM JOHN RAVENS WEATHER Last week John was 93% correct
RENTAL PROPERTIES
See inside back cover for our full list
TUES
WED
THUR
Rain and Gusty Southwesterlies
Becoming Fine. Light Winds.
Fine apart from Morning Cloud
FRI
SAT
Mostly Cloudy. Partly Cloudy. Southeasterlies Not much Wind.
SUN
MON
Partly Cloudy. Little Wind.
Partly Cloudy. Not much Wind.