A new group called the Gorgeous Lads & Ladies Against Disposable Bags or GLLAD Bags has formed in the Narooma area in an attempt to reduce the use of those nasty one-off plastic shopping bags.
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The idea was the brainchild of naturopath Mukti, who now has six ladies sewing reusable cloth bags out of donated material.
But unlike other reusable bag projects such as Boomerang Bags, these bags don’t have to be returned and those lucky enough to be handed a GLLAD bag by Mukti get to keep them forever.
“In the end this war on waste is up to us, it’s our responsibility,” Mukti said. “As consumers we don’t realise the power we have because if we don’t buy or use things then they don’t sell.”
Mukti plans on handing out the bags for free outside the front doors of supermarkets across the Narooma district.
The GLLAD group also plans to get a stall and make some speeches and spread the word at the Narooma Rotary Market on Sunday, July 23.
Mukti said she always been one to care for the environment and a recent trip around Australia opened her eyes to the amount of rubbish on the nation’s roadsides.
“The Nullabor is lined with toilet paper because people couldn’t be bothered dig a hole,” she said.
Next she would like to take on the supermarkets for the excessive use of plastic packaging and would also like to see more recycling of things such as wrappers, toothbrushes and plastic straws.
“I am basically fed up with the way things are goings and the more I thought about it, the more realised that it’s our responsibility to do something, not the government,” Mukti said.
The GLLAD volunteers sewing the bags so far are Robyn Giblet, Carol Atkins, Wendy Brown, Elise Senior, Sandy Gauci and Roslyn Marion, while Leeanne Riley manages their Facebook page.
Fabric has been donated by St Vincent De Paul and Uniting Church Drop-in Centre at Narooma, as well as by others.
Mukti would like to hear from anyone interested in helping to sew or getting involved with the GLLAD Bag group and she can be contacted on 0439 993 692.