Bring your own bag

South Africans use  approximately 8 BILLION plastic shopping bags per year. Less than 1 percent are recycled and many  end up in landfills or blow out of bins — blocking stormwater drains, getting stuck in trees or littering rivers and beaches . In nature, plastic breaks into smaller pieces, but never fully disappears – it breaks up into microplastics  not down into organic matter, contaminating land,  food and water. Scientists say that by the year 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish.

Rwanda and Kenya have already the banned the Plastic bag in 2008 and 2016 respectively.

As Christians and people of faith we believe we are called to care for Creation and so we invite you to join us in the BRING YOUR OWN BAG Campaign

1. BRING YOUR OWN BAG. Make a pledge to stop using single use plastic shopping bags. You can sign the pledge here and encourage others to do so too:

https://www.aquarium.co.za/content/page/rethink-the-bag-make-a-pledge

2. MAKE YOUR OWN BAGS. Here is a great opportunity to encourage unemployed people in your church and community to make alternative bags. Get creative, get colourful, brand the bags with the name of your church, the sky is the limit!
3. PUT PRESSURE ON YOUR LOCAL SHOP. Mobilise local churches, schools etc and community members to put pressure on your local supermarkets and businesses to stop using one use plastic bags. Here are some examples; the SPAR in Kloof (KZN)  gives out only paper bags, the SPAR in Kleinmond gave out a free re-usable bag to everyone who handed in ten plastic bags.
4. MOBILISE WITH OTHERS TO BAN PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS IN SOUTH AFRICA. Kenya did it, Rwanda did it. Yes we can!!! Please sign a petition to the Minister for the Environment here: https://www.causes.com/actions/1755124-ban-plastic-shopping-bags-in-south-africa
5. Join our facebook group to share ideas on https://www.facebook.com/groups/190793368196276/?ref=br_rs