SAMANTHA CROSS AND THE PLASTIC POLICE

Ms JODIE HARRISON(Charlestown)Of the many environmental challenges we face in the twenty-first century, what to do about plastic pollution is one of the largestand one of the issues we can do the most about in our day-to-day lives. Samantha Cross decided to do something about it. She started Plastic Police in 2015, after feeling "inundated" by soft plastic in her home. Samantha approached Biddabah Public School about collecting soft plastic and converting it into an outdoor bench seat. After a year of collecting, and having found enough soft plastic to stretch from Warners Bay to the Central Coast, they built the seatbut the Plastic Police's mission was just getting started. Now the project includes more than 25 organisations, including schools, councils and businesses. As well as collecting and re-purposing soft plastics, the Plastic Police is aiming to educate the public about soft plastics and encourage the community to reduce or eliminate usage. The goal is to catch soft plastics before they end up in waterways or landfill. I would like to thank Samantha, fellow Plastic Police activist Lexi Crouch, and all of the organisations who have been involved in this very worthy initiative.

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