Opinion: Time to ditch the beloved plastic bag

It was only a matter of time before we were going to change the habit of a lifetime - getting rid of plastic bags. PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES

I am going to hate saying goodbye to my favourite carry-all, the beloved plastic bag.

I know we have to do our bit for the environment and clean up our act in areas that are doing damage and harm. But I'll miss my plastic bags. I always have one neatly folded and tucked away in my handbag. You'll find a bundle in the boot of my car too. You never know when you're going to need a trusty plastic bag.

I have multiple uses for them, they are not just a single use item from the supermarket for me. I'll have to find something else to put my wet gear into when I've been for a swim in the lake. Something else to wrap my shoes in when packing my travel bag. Buy shop liners now for the kitchen tidy. The ones that you buy in the supermarket are biodegradable I presume. Buy a couple of those cloth bags you see by the checkout at the supermarkets. So annoying.

It's not as if I haven't been doing my bit to contribute to cleaning up our precious environment. I have reused and recycled all sorts for years. I separate my rubbish, learnt that from my years of living in Switzerland. There the environment reigns. Woe betide anyone who doesn't get on board. In Auckland I discovered the benefits of the different coloured plastic recycling containers. That makes recycling household rubbish easy. Good that we have them now in Rotorua.

I would get quite irate if I found an empty can or bottle in the kitchen tidy. "That's what the recycling containers are for," I would explain to Theo in exasperation. I now suspect he put them in the tidy on purpose. My reaction was always so predictable. I would hear him laughing while I was grumbling away.

It probably is time for me to get serious now and think about doing more. Every little action counts and makes a difference we are told.

I suppose I was kidding myself thinking that if I did nothing else, apart from separating the household rubbish, at least I was helping the environment. In a small way.

I like to think my op shopping has contributed too. I have been an avid op shopper for years. The recycling would have helped reduce stuff from being used once only, then heading straight to the landfill. One person's trash being another person's treasure.

There are some people who turn up their nose at the thought of buying pre-loved, used goods but that has never worried me. I know families who would not be able to manage and get by without op shops today. For furniture, bedding, clothing and other assorted household stuff. And you'd be surprised who you run into in op shops supposedly just browsing. But I know they are regulars.

It doesn't matter to me who knows that I buy many of my clothes from op shops. That's my business. I'll look there first hoping to find exactly what I want and for only a fraction of the price of a new item.

But now the boot is on the other foot. It's payback time. Since downsizing my home last year I am regularly dropping things off to op shops. I have a storage unit that I'm slowly clearing out and most of that stuff is heading to various op shops around town. Every time I look around the unit I think "why on earth did I keep all this". For sentimental reasons that's all. And it's costing me. Time to put that right.

I'm going to use up all the plastic bags I have first. I'm not throwing them out. It was just a matter of time before we were going to be asked to change the habit of a lifetime.

And it's not such a sacrifice when you consider what mother earth has given us through the centuries. Now it's our turn to return the favour.

Merepeka Raukawa-Tait is a Rotorua Lakes Council councillor, Lakes District Health Board member and chairs the North Island Whanau Ora Commissioning Agency. She writes, speaks and broadcasts to thwart political correctness.