Last week, the City of Colwood took the initial steps to do what no other municipality on the West Shore has officially done B次元官网网址� ban single-use plastic bags.

During a council meeting just after the Remembrance Day long weekend, councillors voted to have staff adopt a bylaw put forward by the Capital Regional District for Colwood to ban the sale and distribution of the bags.

Coun. Jason Nault, who put forward the motion, was the only one to speak on it saying plastic bags are a B次元官网网址渘ever-ending source of pollution B次元官网网址� and they take up an inordinate amount of landfill space and they are entirely unnecessary.B次元官网网址�

ItB次元官网网址檚 no secret that what was once considered a space-age convenience has morphed into tons of plastic that poses serious consequences for the environment and the wildlife with which we share this planet.

At the moment, the retail approach to plastic bags ranges from ThriftyB次元官网网址檚, which no longer uses them, to Western Foods and Fairways, who still do for free, and others such as Shoppers Drug Mart and Great Canadian Superstore, which charge customers who require them.

Either way, more and more residents are opting to bring their own bags into businesses.

Other municipalities across Greater Victoria, such a Victoria and Saanich, have also taken steps towards establishing similar bans. But the bigger question is why havenB次元官网网址檛 other western communities jumped on board?

ItB次元官网网址檚 time for West Shore communities to move forward with similar bans. Yes, it will take a while for businesses and customers to adjust, but that will come with time.

It wasnB次元官网网址檛 that long ago that Styrofoam was the evil elephant in the room, but considering how much of it was around 20 years ago, weB次元官网网址檝e made dramatic strides in reducing its use.

We need a change in our plastic-bag mindset if weB次元官网网址檙e going to make an impact on our environment. ItB次元官网网址檚 important that municipalities start to realize that as well.

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