Much ado about plastic bags

No one gave them much thought until a progressive approach by the City of Toronto led the way on reducing the use of these bags, which have long been a significant environmental issue, by implementing a bylaw that requires retailers to charge a fee for plastic shopping bags.
This change, designed to cut down on the number of plastic bags in circulation and littering our streets, parks, and waters, has been highly effective. Specifically, the bylaw has been critical to eliminating the use of 242 million plastic bags annually, a 53 per cent reduction since 2009. These results have been supported by effective implementation by retailers – like Loblaw Companies (a World Wildlife Fund partner), which implemented a fee across their network of stores nationally, and recently reported a reduction of 3.8 billion plastic shopping bags since 2007.
Clearly, a required fee has had a significant influence, proving to be a simple and effective tool in reducing negative environmental impact of plastic while requiring minimal effort from government, consumers, and businesses.
Despite this success, some Toronto municipal leaders are calling for an end to this program, and the discussion has become mired in misinformation and confusion.  It seems essential to return to the facts of the issue.
Let’s start with some inescapable facts. Plastic bags are a legitimate environmental problem. It takes energy to make them, to dispose of them, to recycle them. They take up space in our landfills, and they take hundreds of years to break down.  They also have a serious impact on wildlife as their foul our coastlines and oceans.  And while plastic bags can now go in the blue bin, few of us actually recycle them.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
From www.shorelinecleanup.ca
Canadians use billions of plastic bags every single year. Over a trillion are thrown out every year worldwide. Most end up, in very short order, as garbage or as litter. While you may find plastic bags useful, there is no denying the environmental impact.  The simplest answer to this problem is to put fewer plastic bags into circulation – something that the plastic bag fee is accomplishing.
Here is another fact: despite the fact that most Canadians say they support using reusable bags, most don’t actually choose them when plastic bags are free. Changing habits is hard.  But the numbers show that the fee is changing behaviour. There is overwhelming evidence from around the world – Ireland, the U.S., and China – that a small charge on plastic bags is far and away the most effective method to reduce plastic bag use. Results from Toronto reinforce these findings.
There is another important benefit to this fee.  A portion of the proceeds is used to support important environmental initiatives.  Loblaw, for example, supports WWF’s work in engaging and educating the public on environmental issues, donating $4 million nationally over the past four years.  The programs these funds make possible include WWF’s Green CommUnity School Grants program, which has provided nearly $500,000 in funding over the past two years.  It has enabled projects like an organic edible garden at Williamson Road Public School in Toronto’s Beaches neighbourhood that has enhanced the health and wellbeing the school and surrounding community.
Loblaw’s plastic bag fee proceeds also support the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, which has engaged hundreds of thousands of Canadians across the country in removing litter – like plastic bags – from Canada’s shorelines, including those of Lake Ontario and the Humber, Don, and Rouge rivers.  These funds go to National Sweater Day as well.  In 2012, this campaign mobilized 1.68 million Canadians to put on a sweater and turn down their thermostats to save energy.  Toronto participants included local businesses, schools, and universities.
Other retailers have followed suit and have been providing funding to worthy environmental initiatives in communities across Canada.
Clearly, this small charge is the most effective incentive in getting Canadians to switch to reusable bags, which is not only helping reduce plastic bag waste by more than 50 per cent, but also helping raise awareness about and engage Canadians in environmental issues.  Torontonians have already adjusted to this change, and the program is being used as a model by other municipalities.  The City should be proud of its leadership and the success of the program.  So the real question in the plastic bag fee debate must be: why waste a good thing?