City council is looking to do something to reduce the use of plastic bags at local retail stores.
Council approved a motion Monday asking city administration to compile a report summarizing the practices of other municipalities to curb the use of plastic bags. The report isn't due until Nov. 1, 2011.
The issue was one that outgoing Coun. Carol Watamaniuk put on the agenda in the hope that someone from the new council would take it on. Coun. Cathy Heron spoke in favour of the motion.
“I believe that too many plastic bags are ending up in our landfill. They take a long time to break down. They break down into toxins,” Heron said. “We need to investigate and, as an environmentally forward [thinking] city, we need to implement this.”
“I think St. Albert has fallen behind our major cities such as Toronto that have adopted bylaws,” Heron said. “I'm a big supporter of BYOB — bring your own bag.”
The motion passed, with Coun. Cam MacKay and Coun. Malcolm Parker opposed.
“The way I see it is, a lot of people use plastic bags to put their garbage out. I just wonder what we really accomplish by zeroing in on that,” Parker said. “To me it's not a high priority for us to be looking at.”
Mayor Nolan Crouse supported the motion but suggested that council give administration a year to complete the report.
“We have so much on our plate. Our environmental department isn't even able to get to the river work and we're on overload right now,” he said.
The municipality of Wood Buffalo banned the use of single-use plastic and paper shopping bags in September.
The municipality launched an extensive marketing campaign, entitled BYO BAG, in July to create awareness of the bylaw's implementation date.
Such an outright ban is one option that St. Albert could consider, as is a mandatory five-cent per bag fee, like Toronto has, Heron said, but she would prefer some sort of reward system.
“My favourite is always rewards for using reusable shopping bags,” she said. “I'm still going to push the city and staff to come up with some plans on that front.”
