The evidence is now very clear that plastics entering the food chain are seriously threatening the extinction of many of the creatures which share our planet. Recent media reports indicate that, due to an ever increasing demand, the world production of plastics is set to increase by 50% or more. Clearly this will accelerate this process.
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Single-use plastic bags are a major way in which plastics are polluting our rivers and oceans and the subsequent devastating effect on birds and sea life will only get worse unless we change our ways. Many people seem to believe we are not part of the animal world. This is a tragic mistake. If the animals that share our world disappear inevitably so will we.
Because of these concerns the undersigned Bellingen residents have written to the manager of the Bellingen IGA requesting that they discontinue providing single-use plastic bags to their customers.
All states except NSW have either already banned or are planning to ban these bags by 2018. If communities like ours follow this example it may well contribute to making this an Australia-wide initiative. The Bellingen IGA did attempt, on a previous occasion, to discontinue providing these bags but was forced to continue because of the aggressive and threatening response of some individuals.
It is a sad aspect of human behaviour that some Bellingen residents put the minor inconvenience of bringing along a couple of bags to collect their shopping before the survival of the birds and sea creatures choking on the plastics we are dumping in our rivers and seas.
We are asking IGA customers to support this action and make their support known to the IGA owners and management.
Paul Milton, Jann Simmonds, Martin Tizzard, Lynn Tizzard, Gillian Anderson, Richard Martin, Paul Tipper, Margot Pleasant
Bellingen