Bye Bye Plastic Bags began in 2013 in Bali and came to Coorabell Public School last Wednesday to continue putting the message out to young people that we need to reduce our dependence on plastic, especially single use plastics.
The campaign was started by two Balinese sisters Melati,15 and 13 year old Isabel Wijsen.
After a lesson about inspiring people like Mahatma Ghandi, Lady Diana and Nelson Mandels they came up with the idea os Bye Bye Plastic Bags. It has become a youth social initiative and has helped achieve a pledge from the Balinese government to ban plastic bags in 2018.
‘I knew that plastic bags were a big issue in the world but now that I know more I want to do something about it. The videos made me look at it from a different perspective,’ said ten year old Manon from Coorabell.
Four year 11 students from Somerset College in Mugereeba on the Gold Coast came to Coorabell School to talk to the children about the Bye Bye Plastic campaign. This included team leader Sebastian who had attended the Green School in Bali with the founding sisters of Bye Bye Plastic Bags.
‘Their presentation told the story of the beginnings of their organisation with lots of information on how long plastics stay in the environment, where they end up and how to reduce their usage,’ said Wendy Edlund, co-owner of Byron Hire, who is a local ambassador.
‘It was really inspiring,’ said Yumi following the presentation.
‘More people should to more to help say bye bye to plastic bags. The video with the animals being caught up in plastic was really sad. Our school could help.’
Sebastian, Anna, Uni and Noah from Somerset College were also inspired by the experience.
‘The feedback that I received from the presenters was that the whole experience has really inspired them to continue their work and expand on what they are area doing to try and reach more of their peers to inspire them to action,’ finished Wendy.
To find out more about Bye Bye Plastic bags click here. http://www.byebyeplasticbags.org/#home
