The scourge of non-recyclable waste devastating the precious land of the Pacific Islands has become a new subject matter for some of the local performers. A play put on in front of the newly built Parliament House on the tiny Pacific island of Tuvalu marked the islands transition to becoming the worlds first plastic shopping bag free country. Campbell looks at some of the ecological and economic crisis in the South Pacific Islands in the year that was declared The Year of Action Against Waste and the methods which are employed to assist with the educating of such issues.

Petra Campbell is CEO of the not for profit non governmental organization International Help Fund (IH) Australia, and Pacific Director of International Hilfsfonds Germany. IH's programs in the Pacific are centered on waste minimisation and removing recyclables from the solid waste stream, processing them on the islands and exporting them for recycling. In Easter Island IH is providing assistance in waste management and water sanitation.