Plastposer får personlighet i ny kampanje

- We are going to introduce people to outspoken, excited, hurt, and jealous bags. All in order to convince that plastic bags should be used multiple times, says Mari Nordstrøm, Head of Membership and Communication at the Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund.

Prevents, removes, and reduces
The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund allocates funds to projects that solve the environmental problems of plastics and earns its revenue from the sale of plastic carrier bags. On September 1st, they announced a call for applications amounting to 110 million NOK, and in December, it will be determined who will receive funding for their project.

- The projects we support contribute to achieving our goals of preventing and removing plastic litter, increasing resource utilization and recycling, and reducing plastic usage, and we are currently reviewing many exciting applications. This campaign is dedicated to the goal of reducing plastic bag usage, and we are eager to see how it will be received by the public, says Nordstrøm.

The use of plastic bags must decrease
The fund was established as Norway's response to the EU plastic carrier bag directive, and one of its main goals is to reduce plastic bag usage.

- Plastic bag usage has decreased since 2016, but consumption is still too high. Many people can probably relate to having a cupboard or drawer full of plastic bags, and unfortunately, some of these go straight into the trash instead of being reused. We know that Norwegians generally have a positive attitude towards plastic bag usage and want to make better environmental choices, but they quickly forget. That is why we are giving the bags a voice and letting them do the reminding, says Nordstrøm.

Made to carry
A key message in the campaign is that the bag is strong and made to carry.

- By giving the bags personalities, we try to remind people that they have value and are made to be used many times. If each Norwegian reuses every plastic carrier bag just one more time as a shopping bag, we would save Norway more than 300 million plastic carrier bags a year. If talking bags are not enough motivation, the number of plastic bags saved certainly should be, concludes Nordstrøm.