Surfing NSW Partners with NSW EPA
OVERVIEW
Surfing NSW (SNSW) has partnered with the NSW EPA “Stop It and Swap It” campaign to help implement community-led ideas and strategies to support the plastic bans and reduce single use plastic in NSW. Within our organisation (SNSW) and our community of Boardrider clubs and their members, we are opening a grant opportunity so you can help too.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
We want you to tell us what your Boardriders club could do to “Stop It and Swap It”. Think of ways your club can reduce single use plastics and/or spread the “Stop It and Swap It” campaign message during your club rounds in the 2023 season.
KEY DATES?
Applications Open – 27th January
Application Close – 20th February
Successful Recipients Announced – 27th February
Project Concludes – 5th June
NSW Government's "Stop It and Swap It Campaign"
- Remember to pack your reusable shopping bags when you go to the shops as lightweight plastic shopping bags are now a thing of the past in NSW (as of 1 June 2022).
- The state’s ban on the highly littered item is the first in a series of single-use plastic phase-outs that will see a number of other items added to the list.
- A second ban happened from 1 November this year that included single-use plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery, plates, bowls and cotton buds, expanded polystyrene food ware and cups, and rinse-off personal care products containing plastic microbeads. Single-use plastic items and packaging make up 60% of all litter in NSW.
- These plastic bans will prevent almost 2.7 billion items of plastic litter entering our environment in NSW over the next 20 years.
What you can do?
Did you know that plastic packaging and single-use plastic items make up 60% of all litter in NSW?
Consumers are encouraged to swap single-use plastic items for reusable and sustainable alternatives to help reduce the amount of plastic waste that ends up in landfill, as litter or in our environment, like microplastics.
Many of us have already swapped plastic bags for reusable alternatives made of sustainable materials for our weekly grocery shop. That’s a great start but think about how much plastic we could remove from circulation if we used these same bags when shopping for other essentials such as clothes, shoes, or gifts.
Instead of using plastic cutlery on your next family picnic, why not swap it for alternatives made from a sustainable material or bring a special reusable picnic set from home?
Swap single-use disposable plastic plates at your school fundraiser for reusable dinnerware which can be put through a dishwasher and used time after time.
A little bit of thought goes a long way when it comes to reducing the amount of plastic waste we generate. By changing our behaviour and the choices we make, we can make a huge collective difference to our environment.
