Greenpeace have an important message from their most recent plastic campaign recruit, actor Sam Neill.
Sam jumped on board because he wants to see the New Zealand Government ban single-use plastic bags, something tens of thousands of New Zealanders have been pushing for, too.
So far, Greenpeace have had major successes in this campaign, getting New Zealand’s two largest supermarkets – New World and Countdown – to announce a ban in their stores, but they are not stopping there.
At noon on Tuesday, 27 February, Greenpeace was joined by Dr Jane Goodall, and Jane Goodall Institute New Zealand patron, former NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark, along with members of local councils, businesses, non-governmental and community organisations, and scientists. They gathered at the steps of parliament in Wellington to present a letter to Ministers as well as a petition signed by more than 61,000 New Zealanders – all asking for a change in law.
They are calling for a nationwide ban to make sure plastic bags can no longer find their way into our oceans, devastating marine life.
One in three turtles found washed up on NZ beaches has eaten plastic – a tragic last meal that causes them to die slowly and in agony.
Greenpeace think our marine life deserve better than to swim in our garbage, and now is the time to act.
In the words of David Attenborough, who saw plastic pollution first hand on the set of Blue Planet II, we have to act now and we have to act together.
