By Dylana Milobar

Single-use plastic bag ban advocates making headway

Jan 18, 2019 | 10:57 AM

KAMLOOPS — The group behind a growing online petition to ban single-use plastic bags in Kamloops is now working to bring the issue to municipal and provincial officials.

After meeting yesterday with both local MLAs, organizers say they will continue speaking with city council about creating a bylaw banning single-use plastics in Kamloops.

Michele Hadley is one of organizers, and says they’ve taken a look at other municipalities who have begun to get rid of plastics and waste for examples of how the Tournament Capital might be able to achieve it.

“I think there’s going to be a phasing out process. Certainly in Vancouver, if you look at the city council steps they took, they had an extensive phasing out process,” She explains, “So this wasn’t something that was brought on to people with surprise. People were getting prepared for it.”

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On that note, Hadley says says despite the sheer amount of plastic and garbage people are trying to manage, solutions can be easier than people may think.

“I look at Costco. No one thinks, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve got a shopping cart full of groceries and where are the bags?’ You know what, we figure it out,” Hadley says, “We just load them in our car, we put them in a cardboard box. So sometimes I think theres a tendency to overthink a problem that may not actually be there.”

Hadley says getting rid of single-use plastics such as bags, straws, coffee cups and cutlery will primarily need to be a community driven effort.

“Its when we lack the legislation. I think back to the helmet laws, the seatbelt laws, the no-smoking laws. There was resistance at first, and now we can look back and think, ‘Gosh what was all the problem about?’ It seems so easy.”

The online petition at Change.org now has over 1,800 signatures, and organizers leading the charge hope to continue gathering support before officially appearing before city council to ask about getting a bylaw in place.