Our Country Is on Fire and People Are Still Bagging Their Bananas

Anita Horan with the free plastic bags on offer in the fresh produce section of the supermarket.

As I write this, the sky is blood red and smoke smothers our country like a disease infested woolen blanket.

Wow, the world is on fire! What will it take to wake us up and question our behaviour? Shouldn’t we all be asking, Does the way I live help or harm the environment I rely upon?

While the apocalyptic conditions became the new normal, I stepped from the smoke filled carpark and entered the crisp, air conditioned supermarket, full of gratitude that the brave fire fighters are protecting my town, and that food is so readily available for me to purcahse for my family. Instead, my optimism was incinerated by rage.

I watched in disbelief as people still bagged their bananas and rockmelons with the free plastic bags in the fresh produce section. I even saw a man put two tiny chillies in a plastic bag and another lady bagged one single lemon. The reality of our collective blindness made me snap. The world could be ending, yet people would still be so self-absorbed and obsessed with social conformity, that they would bag one banana, lemon or avocado. Ludicrous!

This was my response to the free rolls of plastic death:

Do you think it’s bananas to bag your bananas? You can either relocate the bag rolls or sign the petition… https://www.aph.gov.au/petition_list?id=EN1181

Posted by Anita Horan on Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Relocating the plastic bags, was my mini-public-protest. Whilst my act of rebellion was momentarily satisfying, it was not sustainable behaviour. I obviously can’t visit every supermarket in Australia to hide the bag rolls. Instead, I decided to create a petition to submit to the Australian House of Representatives.

The petition asks that plastic bags for fresh produce that is robust or has thick skin, be made illegal. At the time of writing this blog, my petition is close to 14,000 signatures! If you are an Australian resident, please sign it here or click through on the image below. There are only a couple of days left, so lets make a splash!

Petition with the Australian House of Representatives to ban bags for fresh produce.

I was so emboldened by the positive response for signatures so far, I went a little crazy and made this video to help spread the message – It’s bananas to bag your bananas.

It’s Bananas to Bag Your Bananas 🍌

If you think it’s bananas to bag your bananas, please sign my petition πŸ‘‰πŸ» https://www.aph.gov.au/petition_list?id=EN1181 For Australian residents only, closes Dec 25th. Not an Aussie? Please consider starting your own petition! Oh… and crank the sound up too πŸ‘‡πŸ»πŸ”Š

Posted by Anita Horan on Sunday, December 15, 2019

You know what? If we succeed and the free bag rolls are removed, people will adapt. I already take my reusable produce bags into the supermarket to avoid the plastic ones. It’s not hard to do. And many items do not need a bag at all.

The best way to shop is mindfully. I love supporting businesses who accommodate the way I want to buy my fresh produce. Take a look at this video I made to show how easy it is to avoid single use plastic.

Easy, isn’t it? Unfortunately the supermarkets do not want you to know you can shop mindfully. They want you to get in and out of their stores as mindlessly as possible. Thus the copious amount of free plastic bags still on offer (despite claiming to have removed plastic bags).

Help make mindful produce shopping easier by signing my petition. It ends on December 25. The best Christmas present would be as many signatures as possible.

Happy Holidays from Anita 🐸 🍌

One Reply to “Our Country Is on Fire and People Are Still Bagging Their Bananas”

  1. I get really annoyed that I have to buy the spray or pump every time I buy cleaning products or soaps. Can rarely buy a refill bottle these days with reduced range in stores. I have about 50 in the bottom drawer and they aren’t made of recyclable plastic. Why don’t they just sell the spray nozzle or pump separately from the bottle of product?

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