That's over 20 million new bags being used every day!

Of these, an estimated 3.76 billion bags or 20,700 tonnes of plastic are disposed of in landfill sites throughout Australia every year and we dump 7,150 recyclable plastic bags into landfills every minute. 

This all sounds mind-boggling – doesn’t it?

Apart from filling up landfill, these bags also get into our waterways and oceans and kill wildlife.

Haven’t we had enough of these diabolical things? We as humans just need to stop using them.

Plastic bags are made of non-renewable natural resources such as crude oil, gas and coal.

One of the biggest problems with plastic bags is they do not readily break down in the environment, with estimates that it can take anywhere from 20 to 1000 years for them to decompose.

It is weird to think that the pen this writer is holding will have a longer footprint on the earth than the human.

So, in light of this, it is great to see many local community groups banding together to combat this ever-increasing scourge.

Alternatives to plastic bags, known as Boomerang Bags are being created in a Sewathon this weekend at Workspace2580. 

The bags will be on sale at the Lilac Festival the following weekend. 

So do your bit for the environment and get involved by either creating or buying these great local products. 

The year 2016 wasn’t a good one for Goulburn in terms of fires.

In January the beloved Greengrocer on Clifford cafe went up in flames. The same month, the old Saint John’s Orphanage was set alight, followed by three other fires at the Mundy Street building in October and November. In June, the Centrelink building was the centre of attention, with two youths later charged over the outbreak.

So it’s great to see the Greengrocer Cafe rising from the ashes and coming back stronger than ever. Architect Andrew Randall has done a grand job and the fit-out is refreshing. The march of faithful customers back to the popular stop shows it has lost none of its appeal. Work is also underway on the Centrelink building. Unfortunately we can’t say the same of St John’s.