By DAVID McALPINE
science editor

Underground mine poppet heads and a steam locomotive stand guard over the State Coal Mine in Wonthaggi, southeast of Melbourne.

The tourist attraction, which once supplied vital energy to fuel the coal-hungry Victorian rail system, recently hosted the Southern Gippsland Sustainability Festival.

The theme for this year’s event was Plastic Free Bass Coast, which is expressed colourfully in an eclectic recycled art exhibition by local school children.

Retired teacher Aileen Vening, who has lived in South Gippsland for 22 years, is frustrated by the volumes of plastic pollution that washes ashore on her community’s beloved coastline.

Plastic Bag Free Bass Coast, which Ms Vening is a member of, educates the community about the perils of plastic pollution and produces cloth shopping bags from recycled fabric.

“Our aim is to replace single use plastic bags with reusable bags using recycled fabric,” she said.

“We are stopping material going to landfill, as well as providing bags for shoppers.”

With boxes in several shops in Inverloch and Wonthaggi, almost 7000 bags have been distributed to the community.

Ms Vening hopes more businesses will stop using plastic bags, including single-use biodegradable bags, which simply degrade into smaller pieces of plastic.

“Small business has responded well but big business, the big supermarkets, are still dragging the chain.”

Further along the diverse rows of stalls, small business owner Kyla Seipp is showcasing a range of Australian-made, reusable cloth nappies and menstrual products.

“Knowing that disposables are one biggest things that end up in landfill, that’s not an option,” she said

“In terms of convincing people to buy them, they’re incredibly hard sells because people get into their habits or what’s conventional.”

Ms Seipp said she hopes her two-year-old son can appreciate her choices when he is her age.

“I want him to say, no, I didn’t contribute to that amount of landfill when I was born because of the choices my mother made for me, trying to make this world a better place.”

“It’s really positive for me to get out and educate people about something I’m really passionate about. I want my son’s generation to grow up in a better world.”