8 December 2008 - 13:085 Cents for Plastic Bags: Hurray!
Never have I been more excited about paying five cents for anything, except maybe penny candy.
Photo by Mike Sherby, Winnipeg
The City of Toronto will force consumers to pay for plastic shopping bags. The five-cent-a-bag charge will take effect on June 1.
I support the city’s decision wholeheartedly because it forces us to think twice about what we use and feel entitled to – lessons that are transferable to many other consumer choices.
I live in Toronto now, but grew up in Winnipeg where plastic bags were pretty much free all my young life. But I do remember one major Canadian grocer doing something substantial to curb plastic bag waste nearly twenty years ago…
Superstore (of Loblaw Companies), started selling more durable plastic bags that you could reuse again and again. They also implemented plastic bag recycling collection at their stores. As a youngster going grocery shopping with mom, I learned to take these durable plastic bags out of the trunk of the car and bring them into the store. I swear we used the same six bags for years.
So what’s happening in the good city of Winnipeg now? The provincial government wants to make recyclable bags more biodegradable and ban the distribution of bags that can’t be recycled. “Our target is to ban all non-recyclable bags in a reasonable time, and ban recyclable plastic bags by 50 percent,” said Manitoba Premier Gary Doer.
Did you know?
In Ireland customers are charged about 22 cent per ‘disposable’ plastic bag.
27 Comments | Tags: Conscientious Consumer, Waste