Remote Community Stores Plastic Bag Reduction

In the push to rid the environment of plastic bags, Clean Up Australia with a supporting grant from the Northern Territory's Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts focused on remote community stores in the Northern Territory.

Through conducting surveys across the Northern Territory, many community stores provided information to Clean Up about plastic bag use. It was found that many indigenous community stores have already banned plastic bags, some more than 10 years ago. The primary motivation for banning plastic bags is due to environmental and rubbish concerns.

The experiences from these plastic bag free communities has been combined with Clean Up Australia's knowledge of plastic bags, to offer stores information and tools to reduce their plastic bag use.

This information includes a report on the survey's key findings and a fact sheet specific to indigenous communities, to motivate communities and understand the benefits to going plastic bags free, both available below.

Download Plastic Bag Reduction Programs in Remote Australia - Fact Sheet (3364.24kb)

Over sixty indigenous communities in the Northern Territory have also received a kit, outlining actions on how to reduce plastic bag use, including fact sheets, posters and stickers. If your local community store would like to receive a kit, please email us at cleanup@cleanup.com.au or telephone 02 9552 6177

Download Remote Communities Survey - Key Findings Report (151.31kb)

The outcomes and learnings from this Northern Territory project are now being used in the remote community stores of the Kimberley Region in WA as part of the Clean Up the Kimberley Campaign.

Click here to learn more about the Clean Up the Kimberley Say NO to Plastic Bags project.