After speeding up efforts to ban single-use plastic bags, Saanich is now setting its sights on banning other disposable items.
B次元官网网址淚 think we do need to go forward and ban unnecessary, single-use products,B次元官网网址� said Coun. Zac de Vries. He made these comments Monday as council gave first and second reading to a new bylaw banning single-use plastic bags. While Saanich had first planned to give businesses a six-month grace period, de Vries convinced his colleagues to implement the bylaw on Jan. 1, 2020 instead, pending public input.
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B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 anticipate this grace period being necessary,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭hink about how many plastic bags we are preventing from entering circulation. This is a time we can take leadership.B次元官网网址�
Coun. Ned Taylor agreed with de VriesB次元官网网址� arguments. B次元官网网址淥ur efforts should not stop at plastic bags,B次元官网网址� said Taylor. B次元官网网址淲e should also be looking at banning Styrofoam, plastic cutlery, coffee cups and much more.B次元官网网址�
The City of Victoria announced last month that it plans to study the ban of single-use coffee cups and single-use takeout containers. Victoria was the first the community in the region to ban single-use plastic bags and has also voted to ban single-use straws.
RELATED: Banning single-use plastic will B次元官网网址榮timulateB次元官网网址� sustainable economy, says store owner
With these moves, the two largest communities in the Greater Victoria region are following communities across British Columbia, Canada and North America in banning various types of disposable plastic products.
But these moves have also received criticism from different quarters. The Canadian Plastics Industry Association has questioned the environmental effectiveness of banning single-use plastic bags, while announcing what it calls are B次元官网网址渁mbitiousB次元官网网址� targets to reuse, recycle or recover 100 per cent of plastic packaging by 2040 in collaboration with various actors.
Environmentalists, meanwhile, have questioned current efforts to reduce plastics as unambitious, a critique with some sting, as the European Union B次元官网网址� currently home to more than 500 million people B次元官网网址� voted to ban all single-use plastics by 2021, with additional restrictions coming into effect in 2025.
Saanich councillors received a taste of this critique when former councillor candidate Teale Phelps Bondaroff questioned the pace of SaanichB次元官网网址檚 efforts.
Pleased to see Council taking the first steps to banning in . 馃泹锔� Now it's time to curtail the use of other unecessary single-use plastic items in Saanich. 馃嵔锔忦煄堭煃�
B次元官网网址� Teale Phelps Bondaroff (@TealePB)
Pleased to see speaking in favour of not just banning but other unecessary single-use plastic items in . 馃憦 Looking forward to seeing some more leadership from on this soon!
B次元官网网址� Teale Phelps Bondaroff (@TealePB)
Looking forward to speak to Council about banning plastic bags in ! I brought along my jar of .
B次元官网网址� Teale Phelps Bondaroff (@TealePB)
Saanich needs to do more than , we need to eliminate all unecessary single-use plastic items. 馃嵔锔忦煄堭煕嶏笍
While this council is doing more than the previous council, which he accused of dragging its feet, the pending ban is insufficient in light of the damage that plastic is causing to the environment, said Bondaroff.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 really not much,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淲e need Saanich to show some leadership. I would like to see Saanich step up and ban other unnecessary single-use plastic items.B次元官网网址�
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