Quantcast
Consumers weigh in on city’s plastic bag debate – Metro US

Consumers weigh in on city’s plastic bag debate

Consumers like Carolynne Heffernan say that it should be left to Calgarians to reduce their environmental impact, rather than forcing people to do without plastic bags.

City council voted Monday for a study that would explore what they can do to reduce plastic bags, which could lead to a phasing out or an outright ban.

“I think more people should bring their own bags to the grocery store, but what about the people who need to clean up their cat’s litter box or their dog’s poo? I think most people reuse their bags anyway,” Heffernan said.

Stats provided from the City of Calgary say that only four per cent of single-use plastic bags are recycled. But that number doesn’t account for Calgary families that re-use the bags they get for free from a grocery store – meaning they aren’t actually “single-use.”

Kimberly Watts thinks Calgary’s possible phasing out of bags will have a big impact on her life. When Watts’ family does get plastic bags from stores, they reuse them as garbage bags.
“I think they are still useful, even though we don’t use them at the grocery store,” she said.