Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Dr Trisia Farrelly tells Whanganui audience 'recycling will not save us'

Jacob McSweeny
Jacob McSweeny
Assistant news director·Whanganui Chronicle·
21 Jul, 2018 04:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Dr Trisia Farrelly gives talk on global plastic crisis at the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre

Whanganui residents were given a stark message about plastic from a leading anthropologist yesterday.

Dr Trisia Farrelly is an environmental anthropologist from Massey University in Palmerston North and gave a talk at the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre as part of a week of educational activities held there.

Last year Farrelly came to fame as the 'glitter Grinch' for her call for a ban on micro-plastic glitter, which went global.

At the talk she explained the amount of plastic being produced was rising not falling and that meant there were some scary predictions.

Dr Trisia Farrelly tells the small audience at the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre about the problems of plastic and some possible solutions.
Dr Trisia Farrelly tells the small audience at the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre about the problems of plastic and some possible solutions.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

By 2050 it was predicted there would be more plastic in the ocean than fish, she said, and that was now believed to be an underestimate.

Farrelly said there was harm caused by plastics that broke down into micro and nano-plastics, which broke through cell walls and would eventually get into the food chain.

Recycling wasn't working, she argued, pointing to the fact 91 per cent of plastic bottles ended up in a landfill and it was our appetite for plastic that needed to be checked.

Recycling just allowed us to continue using the amount of plastic we were in the belief it would be dealt with in the end, she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

For Farrelly, a major step forward was to put pressure on Government and industry to reduce the amount of plastic at the production end.

"Even though I say it's not so much consumer responsibility, it needs the voices of the consumer to push up against state and industry because they're not hearing us," she said.

"We need to continue to send strong messages to retailers and manufacturers that they're wrong; we don't want their single-use stuff ... their unnecessary stuff, that we're just literally being overwhelmed with.

"We are fully capable of bringing our own bags and reusables but we do need reminding."

Discover more

Plastic Free July 'a phenomenal success' - organiser

27 Jul 08:00 PM

Plastic Free organiser has audacious idea

02 Aug 01:00 AM

Petition, posters to change bag policy

06 Aug 11:00 PM

Student prize for shoppers using own bags

11 Aug 12:00 AM

Farrelly said it was important for the individual to be responsible about their plastic use but it wasn't going to change the current trajectory enough.

"The whole idea of pointing the finger at the individual litterer I think is just almost laughable. We need to move beyond that now.

"Now really it is producer and state responsibility."

One idea would be a scheme that meant producers would in some way have to pay for the pathway the plastic product ends up taking.

"For a start, national mandatory product stewardship schemes that level the playing field for all plastic producers and manufacturers is definitely needed," Farrelly said.

"This would mean that all producers and manufacturers would be responsible for the full life and the real cost [of plastic]."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Sarjeant Happenings: Urban Angels bring blues warmth to Sarjeant

19 Oct 04:00 PM
Premium
Editorial

Editorial: Should we take the rough roads with the smooth?

19 Oct 04:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

'Innovative, progressive, proactive': Health trust signs 21-year lease for St George's site

17 Oct 05:00 PM

Sponsored

Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable

22 Sep 01:23 AM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Sarjeant Happenings: Urban Angels bring blues warmth to Sarjeant
Whanganui Chronicle

Sarjeant Happenings: Urban Angels bring blues warmth to Sarjeant

Lighting by Fergus Reid will shimmer like water inside the gallery atrium.

19 Oct 04:00 PM
Premium
Premium
Editorial: Should we take the rough roads with the smooth?
Editorial

Editorial: Should we take the rough roads with the smooth?

19 Oct 04:00 PM
'Innovative, progressive, proactive': Health trust signs 21-year lease for St George's site
Whanganui Chronicle

'Innovative, progressive, proactive': Health trust signs 21-year lease for St George's site

17 Oct 05:00 PM


Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable
Sponsored

Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable

22 Sep 01:23 AM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP