Sadly, if that was all that was needed, we could rest on our laurels and claim victory.

Unfortunately, the use of plastic shopping bags is but a small part of a huge environmental tragedy that needs immediate attention. 

Every year, Australians generate millions of tonnes of waste in food, fashion, packaging and more.

In the last 20 years our population has grown by 28 per cent, but the amount of waste we produce has increased 170 per cent.

There’s an old adage that says ‘waste not, want not’.

This planet of ours is a gift, and we all have a responsibility to care for it to the best of our ability, insofar as we are able.

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This extends to the air we breathe, to our land and sea and sky, and to how we use or misuse the things we take for granted.

Waste can’t simply be measured by the amount of rubbish we put into the garbage bins.

There’s air pollution, thoughtless usage of water or electricity, just to name a few. But it’s the follow up question that needs answering.

What happens to the waste we put in the bins. If all of us take proper care and put it in the right ones, then that’s a good start.

But where does it go after that? There is, of course, the recycle centre, and others of its like where people spend hours sorting and packing for proper disposal.

The recent news that China has decided to cease processing Australia’s waste has come as a shock to many who had never heard of such an arrangement.

Surely we are sufficiently capable of looking after our own needs in this field. However, that is one of the big questions that needs proper investigation, understanding and resources to make it work.

If plastic rises as one of the worst contributors to environmental destruction, then the obvious answer it to stop using it.

Cloth shopping bags have a place in history for centuries. That’s what we used before plastic, and that’s what we need to use now to replace it.

I fail to understand how a supermarket can offer ‘reusable’ plastic bags to replace the single-use ones.

Aren’t they all just plastic? Possibly the reusable ones will take longer to disintegrate, but still find their way into the waterways and reefs and streams, and kill off more of our water inhabiting livestock.

The ABC has been advertising a film coming on screen shortly called War on Waste which looks like something not to be missed by any of us.

This brand new series starts Tuesday, July 24 on ABC at 8.30pm

The ABC website also promotes education on waste for kids. They have 25 educational resources which include fun online games to help kids with the war on waste.

Visit www.abc.net.au/ourfocus/waronwaste and click on ‘splash educational resources’. 

What a difference it would make to the well being of our Planet Earth if each of us decided to take one small step in the way we handle the piece of the environment we inhabit, and see that our habits and practices are healthy and life giving, not destructive and death dealing.