When it comes to vanquishing single-use plastics, Queensland is slowly but surely getting on the right track. By September 1 this year, our sunny state will have banned the sale and supply of a whole bunch of single-use plastic products – this includes single-use plastic straws, stirrers, cutlery and plates along with polystyrene foam food containers and cups. We can’t take credit for being the first state to do so (here’s looking at you, South Australia), but we like to think that we sparked a little bit of inspiration, because now the whole of Australia is following suit.

Back in 2018, the Federal Government pledged that 100 percent of the country’s packaging will be either recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025. Earlier this year, it also launched the National Plastics Plan, which fast-forwards a few of these initiatives to 2022. In even better news, in April this year an agreement was reached by the nation’s environmental ministers regarding the phasing out of a range of single-use plastic items nationally. The outcome? By the year 2025, lightweight plastic bags, plastic straws, utensils and stirrers will all be banned across the country (woo hoo!). Other problematic plastic products like polystyrene food containers and micro-beads used in items like face and body scrub are also planned to be phased out. We can hear the sea turtles cheering from here.