The executive director of Greeners Action, a Hong Kong environmental group, is living in Wanaka for a year, helping Wanaka Wastebusters and Sustainable Wanaka staff launch their fledgling Get Real national campaign against plastic bags.
Mr Ho knows it is going to be a long haul for his Kiwi friends to ban the plastic bag.
Greeners Action took nine years to achieve its goal of legislative controls on plastic bag use in Hong Kong, the home of 7 million people who love to shop.
His battle against plastic bags in a shopping heaven is not over by a long shot.
But in July, laws and regulations passed by two tiers of Hong Kong's legislature last year will finally come into effect, resulting in shoppers being charged for using plastic bags at supermarkets.
The money goes directly into Hong Kong government coffers and Greeners Action is now entering a new phase of lobbying to ensure the funds are used for environmental, charitable initiatives.
"I think it is a very good start. Many, many people ask why we chose plastic bags. In Hong Kong, there's hundreds of things that are not very environmentally friendly . . . But everyone will use a plastic bag," Mr Ho said.
Wanaka environmental campaigners are thrilled to have Mr Ho to help spearhead the national plastic bag campaign launched on Sunday.
Mr Ho first introduced himself to locals in 2007, while on holiday in New Zealand, and he returned this year to work for Wanaka Wastebusters.
He believes people can change their behaviour to reduce plastic bag use but they need reminders to take their own bags to the shops.
"It is just like switching off lights when you go out or turning the tap off when washing your face," he said.
He was a secondary school pupil when he joined Greeners Action in 1994.
The group of about 1000 volunteers has many links to the Hong Kong secondary and tertiary education sectors and is administered by a committee of six.
Since launching the plastic bag campaign in Hong Kong in 2000, the group has lobbied two major supermarket chains, Wellcome and Park 'N Shop.
The group has protested, distributed flyers at shop doors and blocked supermarket head offices with banners.
Greeners Action also distributed reusable bags, made mountains of plastic bags in the city centre, held education campaigns in schools, researched consumer behaviour, met supermarket representatives and lobbied lawmakers.
Mr Ho has travelled widely and researched initiatives in other countries, such as Taiwan and Ireland, where there is a charge for plastic bags.
In the first years of the campaign, the supermarkets and government officials "just wanted us to go away and not bother them anymore", he said.
In 2003, a small breakthrough occurred following the Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) scare and a downturn in economic conditions.
All of a sudden the Hong Kong Government was interested in a plastic bag levy "to get more money for the Government, which I disagree. But they said, `yes, it's a good idea and we should discuss'," Mr Ho said.
Another breakthrough occurred in 2006, when No Plastic Bag Day was launched with supermarkets voluntarily agreeing to charge consumers once a month for plastic bags.
In 2007, supermarkets changed to a once-a-week charge. The money raised was given to Oxfam.
No Plastic Bag days got a good response from the media and public and Greeners Action pushed the lawmakers again.
Finally, in July last year, the first piece of legislation was passed and in February this year, more regulations were passed, with the laws to take effect from July 1.
The two biggest supermarket chains in Hong Kong have more than 200 stores each, so shopping is a huge industry.
The Plastic Bag Manufacturers Association formerly considered Greeners Action as a foe but the two groups were friendly now, Mr Ho said.
Although the protest groups were small - about 20 people at a time lobbied outside the stores - the message had been loud, he said.
Wanaka's plastic-bag free mission began in 2006, led by the newly-formed Sustainable Wanaka trust.
Sophie Ward (36) has managed the trust's various projects for nearly a year and is proud of residents' efforts to "reduce, recycle, and reuse".
After 18 months, Wanaka residents had reduced plastic bag use by 40% (1500 a day) but despite the local focus and commitment, Ms Ward admits she has a struggle on her hands to get at the other 60%.
Obtaining store-owners commitment is part of the problem; changing consumers' habits is another.
After meeting Mr Ho, who also formed the Kiwi Plastic Bag Concern Group and encouraged Collingwood residents to become first plastic bag-free town in the country, in 2007, Ms Ward felt it was important to have a national campaign so other like-minded people could share resources.
Ms Ward feels there is only so much she can do with Wanaka's New World supermarket, which has supported the campaign but is not plastic bag free.
It is now time for a push at national office level.
So far, the response from New World's national office and the Retailers Association has been standard: they support voluntary measures and have a target of reducing plastic bag use by 20% over five years.
But Ms Ward thinks that pathetic. It's just 4% a year.
She wants more than that. And she is looking for more commitment from lawmakers, especially since Environment Minister Nick Smith said on Sunday the public was using too many plastic bags and officials were considering whether to impose charges.
Which is where the new Get Real campaign comes in.
Gwilym Griffith-Jones has been working at Wanaka Wastebusters for about week and is spearheading the Get Real campaign, combining education and lobbying activities to reduce plastic bags, and by extension, encourage behaviour change.
Mr Griffith-Jones is keen for some input into the review of the five-year-old packaging accord, signed by the government and members of the packaging industry.
He feels the accord, and the subsequent Make a Difference campaign, has not achieved its aims, partly because it is a voluntary regime.
Over the next few weeks, Mr Griffith-Jones will be building his database of contacts and asking people to join the campaign.
He will be asking campaign members to email supermarkets with concerns about plastic bags and he will also be seeking talks with supermarkets to try to get them to start charging consumers for using plastic bags.
He does not want to be told "no", or for the companies to sit on their heels. He wants public support to try and get change.
And Mr Ho is also there for support. "In New Zealand, I would really like to see similar charging for plastic bags and see a huge change in people's daily habits."
