Standing out from the Crowd

Eye catching, locally designed reusable cloth bags will be handed out free to Invercargill shoppers today (Friday 21 September).

The bags feature a design created by Bianca Burgess-Heald, a 17 year old James Hargest College student who won the Invercargill Secondary School Art Competition held recently.

Invercargill City Council Waste Minimisation Officer Donna Peterson said thanks to the Rotary Club of Invercargill North, the winning design was able to be screen printed onto 500 reusable blue cloth bags which were to be given out free at selected Invercargill supermarkets by members of the rotary club.

“The Rotary Club of Invercargill North has been jointly involved in organising and funding this project which the Council greatly appreciates,” Ms Peterson said.

The giveaway was just one of a series of events which had been held locally as part of Keep NZ Beautiful Clean Up Week.

Ms Peterson said often people use plastic bags for only a few hours, but they take lifetimes to decompose.
“Windblown plastic bags are also a threat to wildlife and their habitat.

The bags can be easily blown into trees, gardens, into our waterways and out to sea. Birds have been found trapped and tangled in plastic items.”

Ms Peterson said reusable bags were becoming “very trendy” among the eco conscious and the foldable design made it easy to “Bring Your Own Bag” wherever you go - whether it was shopping in town or getting some groceries.
Rotary Club of Invercargill North President Trish Boyle said a Rotary was concerned with the overuse of plastic bags and the project was intended to help the people of Invercargill focus on waste and eliminate unnecessary waste.
“One of the key beliefs of our club is to ‘Give Kids a Chance’ and many of our club projects have that as our base philosophy. Looking towards a sustainable earth is one sure way to Give Kids a Chance,” Mrs Boyle said.