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Plastic shopping bags could soon be a thing of the past if a Christchurch residents' association has its way.
The organisation is calling on supermarkets to provide an environmentally friendly alternative and some are looking at the options.
Spokesman Ron Fensom is making a personal bid to cut down on the global problem of excessive use of plastic shopping bags.
He wants his supermarket to get in on the act and his residents' association is lobbying the local store to offer an alternative to plastic.
"It's important something is always available, whether it be plastic or organic or whatever - it should be reusable," Fensom says.
Trade Aid has been selling an alternative for 30 years.
Spokesman Simon Gerathy says people may have to pay about $6 but it is going to last for years.
Trade Aid is in talks with a Christchurch chain to provide jute bags and Progressive Enterprises, which owns Countdown, Woolworths and Foodtown, is investigating plastic alternatives ranging from biodegradable plastic to cloth.
The Warehouse makes its bags optional and encourages customers not to use them.
Plastic bags make up just 0.25% of the millions of tonnes of plastic waste produced each year. Nearly 90% of the shopping bags used in New Zealand supermarkets are imported.
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