Through the Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP), the National Environment Service is supporting the Avarua Seventh-day Adventist Church’s God’s Care Community Service Project with 600 reusable bags to help reduce its use of single-use plastic bags.
Since 2020, the God’s Care project has supported vulnerable families across Vaka Te Au O Tonga and beyond through quarterly distributions of food packs, pre-loved clothing, household goods and personal items.
Around 150 plastic bags are used at each quarterly distribution – approximately 600 bags every year.
By switching to reusable bags, the project aims to remove the need for these single-use plastic bags while encouraging families to bring their bags back and reuse them for future distributions.
The initiative shows how community partnerships and simple changes can help reduce plastic waste while continuing to support our people.
600 reusable bags. Around 600 single-use plastic bags avoided each year. One simple change for a cleaner Cook Islands.
The initiative is supported through the Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP), funded by the Australian Government and implemented by SPREP, with NES as the executing agency in the Cook Islands.
