Kia ora, I’m Holly and I’m a plastics campaigner for The Kiwi Bottle Drive. We’ve got a mission to clean up our seas and communities by introducing a bottle deposit system to Aotearoa and help our beautiful country move towards a zero-waste future.

I’m feeling excited and a little bit apprehensive because I’ve just vowed to give up plastic for all of July. Why? Because it’s Plastic Free July of course!

After working to campaign for plastic-free oceans and communities for the last year, I’ve seen how big and real the plastic threat is and how easily it could be solved, if our government and industry would step up and get serious about waste.

So, question – do you want to join me?

It’s really easy – there are heaps of ways to get involved this July.

Get personal and cut down on your own plastic consumption, but don’t forget to get political too.

This month we’re calling on you to write to those in power and demand a bottle deposit system for Aotearoa. It’s the biggest opportunity we have to clean up our oceans and communities right now and it’s the next step on our way to a plastic-free future.

We’ve made it really easy for you. Just jump on our website and check out the letter template, address it to Minister Eugenie Sage (in charge of the Waste Portfolio) or you can copy and paste it into an email to your local MP (we have a list for them all on our website too). Tell them why you want clean oceans and healthy communities and let’s bring on bottle deposits Aotearoa!

If we really want big change on plastic we’re going to have to get our government get the industry to clean up its own plastic footprint; plastic production will only stop when we have good initiatives in place to curb our plastic addiction and build a zero waste society.

Follow our blog and stay tuned to our Facebook page for events and the hot tips on getting your life plastic-free this July.