The Front Page podcast: Will banning plastic bags really solve our problems?

Good luck finding these at your local store. Photo / File

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's the plastic bag ban, and what really needs to happen to protect our environment. Hosted by Frances Cook.

Audio from this video podcast is available on podcast apps one week after its release on Herald Premium. You can subscribe to this podcast on all the main apps, including Apple podcasts here, iHeartRadio here, Spotify here, and Google podcasts here.

From this week single use plastic bags are banned, as the Government tries to crack down on pointless waste in our lives.

It's surely one of the smaller changes we'll need to make as climate change looms, but still the fury from some about losing their plastic bags has been intense.

The rules apply to any type of plastic less than 70 microns in thickness, that's new or un-used, has carry handles, is provided for carrying sold goods, and is made of bio-based materials like starch.

The law also covers bags made of plastics that are degradable, biodegradable or oxo-degradable.

It comes as the Government also spends $40 million from its Provincial Growth Fund on crowd-sourcing ideas to reduce the amount of plastic waste in New Zealand.

So is this pointless symbolism, or the first step of many needed to change the unsustainable way we're living?

For the latest Front Page podcast I talked to Herald science reporter Jamie Morton about what the ban impacts, the science behind it, and what conservationists say needs to happen next.

I also talked to Herald lifestyle reporter Rebecca Blithe, who is attempting to go plastic-free, about how that works in the realities of modern life.

For the interview, watch the video podcast.

If you want to know how Rebecca's challenge goes, keep an eye out for the final results in the July 15 edition of Be Well, in the Herald and online.

If you have questions about Herald investigations, or want to stay up to date on social media, you can find host Frances Cook on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.