We have all been there, forgetting to bring a reusable bag to the grocery store and walk out balancing a huge stack of grocerys. Although the lack of plastic bags seems incredibly frustrating when you are scrambling to carry everything or even worse when your stack of groceries topples over, I personally know I have gotten so much better at always brining reusable bags. I even started brining reusable produce bags since its such as easy switch to make now that I'm used to always grabbing bags on my way out the door. This change has become such a normal part of life here in Vancouver that now I am surprised to see plastic bags in stores when i travel. However, this change is not enough, there is still so much plastic and waste that removing plastic bags only makes a small dent towards getting rid of plastic.
The only way to solve the issue is to fully ban single use plastic, which might feel like a radical change but just like changing any habit it will quickly become the new norm. Banning all single use plastic will encourage the development and use of new plastic free options such as compostable plastics. This could also help encourage a shift towards refill stores where people can fill up their own containers and bags with groceries and household goods, similar to the bulk section of the grocery store but where any container can be used. We have the capacity to ban single use plastics, and without a ban adequate change will not happen.
You are right; it seems that all supermarkets in Vancouver have stopped using plastic bags now, some of them can provide paper bags or supermarket shopping bags. I think this is an excellent initiative to protect the environment.
I think we can go even further with this and make waste-free stores the norm, especially since i think theres a decent amount of demand in Van
Banning all single-use plastics would really help the planet. After that, if someone is found to continue using single-use plastics, he will face severe penalties in terms of money and moral principles.
I really like the stern stance on banning single-use plastic. At the end of the day we are marching towards the fact that we will need to massively re-haul, rethink and redo all the things that we use for daily life.
Hi Nadia, great points! If we can do it with the reusable bags, then I'm sure making the change to other reusable items such as containers or household goods should be easy enough :) just another norm to get used to!
Hi Nadia,
Great thoughts! I think most grocery stores have done a great job getting rid of plastic grocery bags, offering reusable bags for sale or encouraging customers to use provided paper bags or cardboard boxes. I agree that we need to fully ban single use plastic. To this day many produce items are packaged using single use plastics. I've seen herbs being sold in plastic containers before!
Hi Nadia,
I agree that bringing re-usable bags has become a normal part of life. I think this shows that beyond the initial hurdle of getting into the groove, it is rather easy for people to adjust to new policies. This should encourage the implementation of new plastic regulations!
Banning single-use plastics will definitely change how shopping looks and will likely see refill stores as the norm!