Manitoba town first in Canada to ban plastic bags

David MacAleese says the idea of charging consumers for a plastic bag, or banning them altogether, is gaining ground.

On April 2, Leaf Rapids, Man., became the first community in Canada to ban plastic bags in retail stores. The town of 600 people, which boasts a pair of retail outlets, claims they’re going to reduce the number of bags used by 100,000 in the first year.

MacAleese is the senior vice-president of In Store Products Ltd., which has introduced the Bring Your Own Bag program and is supplying Leaf Rapids with reusable plastic bags. The bag produced by In Store Products is made from a non-woven polypropylene which is recyclable but not biodegradable.

“I don’t believe banning plastic bags is the best idea for every community,” says MacAleese. “It can work but it shouldn’t be shoved down consumer’s throats.”

MacAleese also says the idea of taxing or banning plastic bags is nothing new.

“India, Australia and most recently Ireland have put levies on the purchase of a plastic bag. They’ve not banned the plastic bag, they’ve just imposed a tax where consumers aren’t able to get them freely. It’s dramatically reduced the number of bags that go into landfills,” he says.

Ireland has put a plastic tax (or PlasTax) in the amount of the Irish equivalent to a Canadian quarter on the purchase of every plastic bag.

“That’s enough initiative to convince people to remember to bring back their bags,” MacAleese says, adding there is benefit for both retailers and consumers who want to think green and reuse their plastic.

MacAleese says plastic bags are a huge cost for retail stores, which is why some retailers have started charging, usually five cents, per bag. He says more than 5.5 billion bags are given away in Canada every year and about 98 per cent will end up in a landfill.

“If it costs a retailer $50,000 to $60,000 a year per store to give away bags, if they could reduce that cost or eliminate that cost they’d be very happy,” says MacAleese. “The consumer gets to feel good about what they’re doing to contribute less to the landfills and they’re making a statement, joining the movement as we call it.

“It takes a collective effort from everybody,” he says.

In Store Products isn’t a stranger to changing the way consumers shop. In 1995, they introduced the GreenBox at all Loblaws-owned stores in Canada. The GreenBox was designed to fit in special two-tier shopping carts. Instead of using bags, the boxes were used to shop and then bring groceries home.

“Our forte is environmental initiatives through retail products,” says MacAleese. “We had great success with the (GreenBox) program.”

While small towns such as Leaf Rapids are part of the solution, MacAleese wants to see larger cities also look towards banning or taxing plastic bags.

In San Francisco, city council has approved the first draft of legislation to ban plastic bags. With a population of about 750,000, MacAleese says the coastal city dumps about 100,000,000 plastic bags in landfills each year. Similar pieces of legislation have also been tabled in New York City and Los Angeles.

MacAleese is inviting anyone who would like to see a plastic bag ban in their city or town to visit www.bringyourbag.com and print out a consumer request form and deliver it to a local retailer.