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Bag lady blazes green trail

Posted on January 20, 2009, 9:09am

When Mount Burr resident Sandra Kanahs set up her backyard shed more than 10 years ago to sew and print hundreds of calico shopping bags, she unknowingly became the pioneer of the State Government’s ban on plastic shopping bags which comes into effect on May 4.

Armed with her homemade fabric bags, Mrs Kanahs asked local supermarkets and shop owners to help educate shoppers in the reduction of plastic bags in landfill, she made numerous submissions to three local Councils, involved 15 schools in her educational campaign and even had a radio commercial made to spread the message.

The campaign started when Mrs Kanahs was teaching her Year 2 and 3 students at the Glencoe Central Primary School about saving the environment and made such an impact on communities in the South East, that the South Australian Environmental Protection Authority awarded her with the “waste management minimisation community effort award” in 1994, 1995 and 1996.

It was during the first award ceremony that Mrs Kanahs was praised as the first Australian known to create community awareness of the problems plastic bags caused to the environment, an awareness which quickly spread across the country.

“I did not think of it that way before they said it,” Mrs Kanahs said.

“But it wasn’t only me; businesses, three councils and the community were all behind it. It was a community effort and everyone was supportive of taking responsibility for their own waste.”

Mrs Kanahs’ campaign then landed her an invitation as guest speaker to a summit in Adelaide five years ago, during which “green bags” were introduced and the possibility of a ban on plastic shopping bags became a topical public debate.

“It is great to reflect on the journey and I was most exciting when I heard about the ban,” she said.

“It has been over 10 years and although many people are using green bags, we still see a lot of people using plastic bags, so the government had to take steps by banning it.

“Local residents don’t realise they actually started the whole process when they supported the campaign years ago.”

ANELIA BLACKIE

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