Be part of SUPtember for a better world

Birte Moliere is a passionate advocate for waste-free living. In her role as Victorian Plastic Free Places facilitator paid for by the Federal Government and Mornington Peninsula Shire, she is supporting businesses to make the switch away from singleuse plastic in line with the State Government ban coming into effect early next year.

Plastic Free Places is a program of Boomerang Alliance, Australia’s peak non-profit organisation focused on minimising waste. The Plastic Free Places program works with communities, in particular local businesses, to reduce single-use plastic packaging items and encourage a move to a circular economy. A circular economy involves a shift away from the unsustainable way of living that sees humans take resources to make products that are sent to landfill. It’s all about eliminating waste and pollution, designing ongoing circular products and resources, and regenerating nature.

The program focuses on a range of opportunities to reduce waste, including eliminating six problematic plastic items commonly found in litter: straws; coffee cups and lids; takeaway containers; food utensils and items such Photo: as Birte cups, Moliere plates and cutlery; bags; and water bottles. At the end of last month, data from Boomerang Alliance’s Plastic Free Places projects showed close to 15 million singleuse plastics had been eliminated or replaced as a result of the program.

“Landfill is a design flaw,” Birte said. “In nature there is no waste; everything gets reused again and again. Over the past decades we’ve been getting away with designing things for a single use, then sending them to landfill. As resources are becoming scarce and prices continue to go up, an exciting shift is under way to a circular economy. Landfill will become a distant past. What we’re doing today decides what our tomorrow will look like.”

The Plastic Free Mornington Peninsula program enables businesses on the Peninsula to engage Birte at no cost to work with them to create a personalised plan for moving away from single-use plastic items and advise them about the upcoming plastic ban. Birte offers unbiased insights, expertise, and strategies to reduce costs, which is a gamechanger for many businesses.

The move to minimise waste is up to individuals too. “As part of SUPtember – single-use plastic September – we’re encouraging locals to take a pledge to swap just one single-use plastic item and replace it with a more sustainable, ideally reusable option,” Birte said. “For example, make it a habit to only shop with a reusable shopping bag instead of accepting a plastic bag. Then dust off your reusable cup and pledge to only have takeaway coffee in your reusable cup. Before COVID hit we were so good on the Peninsula, with high numbers of people using reusable cups for takeaway coffee. We know locals want to do the right thing and I’m excited to see reusables are now once again becoming the norm. Looking at what’s happening in many other countries, I’m confident Australia will be completely ditching single-use cups over the coming years.”

If you’re reading this thinking “What difference does my daily coffee cup make?”, Birte wants us to think about the collective impact. “If everyone on the Peninsula pledged to use reusable cups for takeaway coffee, it becomes a movement of people saying no to single-use plastic. It then builds momentum and flows on to other behaviours. People think ‘I’m doing the reusable cup, what else can I do?’ Then people share ideas with family and friends. Start with one change and keep going.”

For more information and ideas about what you can do, head to www.wastewisepeninsula.org or www.plasticfreeplaces.org

If you’re a business owner and want to be part of the program, sign up with the Waste Wise Peninsula website or contact Birte at birte.moliere@ boomerangalliance.org.au