In Polynesia, volunteers have formed a collective to fight against single-use plastics and protect our ecosystems. Through positive messaging, they have successfully built a wide-reaching citizen-led movement.
Moana Van Der Maesen, a young, enthusiastic activist, is at the origin of Nana Sac Plastique. This citizen collective has a clear ambition: limit single-use plastics in Polynesia. Since 2017, the collective has carried out numerous actions and operations to educate citizens, companies and the government about protecting the environment by using less plastic and finding sustainable alternatives. Their first success? The passing of a law in September 2020 to ban certain types of single-use plastic bags.
Raising awareness about reducing waste
Always focusing on positive messages, the collective encourages everyone to get involved. Several tons of waste were collected on beaches and lagunas during a giant clean-up operation held on the same day across Polynesia’s 5 archipelagos and supported by hundreds of volunteers. Their school programme has already highlighted the importance of protecting the oceans to several thousand students. More than 100 companies have also joined the movement and signed a charter committing to stop distributing all single-use plastic bags.
The collective also supports an array of initiatives to reduce waste, repair broken objects, recycle and promote local production and distribution. Today, two zero-waste grocery stores have set up shop on the island of Tahiti. And, to make an even bigger impact, the collective has many projects!
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