Slim Down Lifestyle

Three years ago, I received a message in my inbox from some very experienced environmental campaigners. They invited me to help start up a statewide campaign to ban plastic bags in Victoria. At first I was nervous, feeling very unsure I had any skills to bring to the table apart from my passion for the issue. But, by this stage of my journey into reducing my own plastic use and living zero-waste, I knew legislation would be one of the ways to get swift action. So I said yes, and Plastic Bag Free Victoria was formed.

The campaign's aim was to highlight and support local community efforts to stop the free distribution of single-use plastic bags while at the same time lobbying the state government for a ban on the free distribution of single-use plastic bags. We put together a petition to present to the government demanding a ban on plastic bags and spent just under a year collecting over 10,000 physical signatures.

Our petition went on to be one of the largest delivered to our state parliament in a decade. But when a bill was first tabled for a ban on plastic bags, it was knocked back. We were disappointed, of course, but we didn't give up hope. Our efforts had added to the conversation, and soon, awareness spread further. Retailers began declaring they would put an end to handing out plastic bags, and a year later the state government declared they would put a ban on plastic bags, to come into effect in 2018.

A campaign of this size required many volunteers with a variety of talents and skills. We relied on people to help spread the message online via social media, to email their local MPs and to stand on street corners asking for signatures. If people donated an hour a week or even just an hour a month, it all added up.