Toronto to ban plastic bags starting in 2013

[zonetbh]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics.../19845836.html

Just heard this on the news...guess ill be doing my shopping in Vaughan next year. Everyone at the office thinks this is a joke. Is there really a valid argument for this? Will the suburbs follow?

[uber_shnitz]

Well are they still in high demand? Snice they started charging for them at the store, seems people haev pretty much stopped asking for them (considering Costco and other stores gives them for free/1$ on some days). If there's no demand, mgiht as well cut the supply.

I mean, it's stupid when you think of how we do things, but I mean I've been usnig reusable bags for a few years and I don't really miss the plastic ones; all I used them for was for the trash

[stuntman]

less plastic = good

[zonetbh]

Well are they still in high demand? Snice they started charging for them at the store, seems people haev pretty much stopped asking for them (considering Costco and other stores gives them for free/1$ on some days). If there's no demand, mgiht as well cut the supply.

I mean, it's stupid when you think of how we do things, but I mean I've been usnig reusable bags for a few years and I don't really miss the plastic ones; all I used them for was for the trash

I don't know anyone personally who has stopped using them. I use them to line garbage bins in the house personally. At 5 cents a bag its cheaper then buying overpriced glad bags and you can use it to haul groceries home. Double use.

less plastic = good

Meh, ill just do my grocery shopping in Vaughan after work. I already do that with Walmart, the Vaughan walmart has never charged for bags at all.

[uber_shnitz]

I don't know anyone personally who has stopped using them. I use them to line garbage bins in the house personally. At 5 cents a bag its cheaper then buying overpriced glad bags and you can use it to haul groceries home. Double use.

Well that's what I used to use them for too but in the end we found packs of trash bin bags at Dollarama which came at about the same price so we went with that. Wasn't that big a loss given that we only had one use for them and that it didn't really help the landfill anyways (AFAIK only a few stores carried the actually decomposable plastic bags). Like I said, no big deal personally. It'd be interesting to see what the stats are like in Toronto though (like how much per day a grocery makes on plastic bag sales say).

[BornRuff]

Part of me thinks that this might have been done purely to piss off Ford. "Oh, you want to get rid of the 5 cent fee? How bout we just go a step further in the other direction?"

With apparent questions about if Toronto even has the authority to ban plastic bags, I believe this wont come into effect any time soon.

[amz155]

So when you go to the mall, you'd have to walk around with a re-useable bag just in case you buy something since the store won't be able to sll you a plastic bag? Or if you make an unexpected/unplanned stop at a store where you didn't anticipate the stop and bring bags with you, you won't be able to buy a plastic bag?

[45ED]

I believe a few news orgs got it incorrect and DOA is actually 2014. The minutes say that they want an implementation plan in 2013 for enforcement (the "outright ban") in 2014.

2 - Motion to Amend Item (Additional) moved by Councillor Anthony Perruzza (Final)
That:

1. City Council prohibit retailers from offering or providing customers with single-use plastic retail shopping bags effective January 1, 2014.

2. City Council direct the Acting General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services to conduct a consultation process with industry and consumers on an implementation plan for the ban on single-use plastic retail shopping bags and report back to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on an implementation strategy in January 2013.

http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen...em=2012.EX20.2

Edit: nvm, I've read the CityNews article that clarified:

Coun. Anthony Perruzza first tabled a motion for the all-out ban by 2014, but lost in a 22-22 tie. However, Coun. David Shiner's motion for a ban by 2013 was approved.

Earlier, Perruzza said getting retailers to stop providing plastic bags to customers is the next logical step after the nickel fee.

http://www.citytv.com/toronto/cityne...ailers-by-2013

[sandikosh]

It is about time they ban it rather paying. Whenever I shop at Loblaw in Richmond Hill, I use the self serve lanes and notice people declining the purchase of bags upon checkout. Then after they pay, they grab a bag. At one time a lady looked at me and said, "It's only 5 cents". I said, "If it's only 5 cents, why didn't you pay for it?" She gives me a mean look and walks away.

[jaysfan4life]

I love it. I thought more stores would offer paper bags once the .05 fee came in. Awesome.

[Rehan]

So all the people complaining about the 5 cent/bag fee will be rejoicing now that the fee will be eliminated, right? No?

[yao416]

Politics thread

[tebore]

It is about time they ban it rather paying. Whenever I shop at Loblaw in Richmond Hill, I use the self serve lanes and notice people declining the purchase of bags upon checkout. Then after they pay, they grab a bag. At one time a lady looked at me and said, "It's only 5 cents". I said, "If it's only 5 cents, why didn't you pay for it?" She gives me a mean look and walks away.

Keep that in mind the next time someone steals something from you.
Loblaw donates that money to environmental programs the plants trees or saves rain forests.

Back on point. These Toronto policies are BS. No Shark fins, no plastic bags, double land transfer tax, and so on.

Why are these stupid politicians worried about dumb problems, when they should be worried about cleaning up crime(via youth programs, rezoning to have mixed residential/business and supportive housing), and actually upgrading the f'in TTC.

Or hell have city planners look at how congestion and traffic will be when all those downtown condos get completed. TTC currently maxed out yet we'll cram in a few hundred thousand more in to the city's core. Streets are jammed but it's ok we'll cut lanes down to add bike lanes which are really useful 6/12 months. The power grid is maxed out but again it's ok we'll deal with it when we turn on the power to all those condos and suffer another 2003 style blackout.

I'm glad I'm moving out of this cesspool of a city run by hipsters with 1st world problems who turn a blind eye to real problems.

[Shaner]

They ban plastic bags, but I bet Toronto still pumps raw sewage directly into lake Ontario when there's a heavy rainfall. Most lake front cities do that. Seems hypothetical.

[uber_shnitz]

Can they replace palstic bags with an alternative? I just realized that only grocery stores chareg for it, regular stores usually will give them out for free so I'd assume those stores would need some kind of replacement. Paper bags?