#plastic use

The Canadian federal government labelled single-use plastics as toxic substances under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, and the Saskatchewan government, along with its Alberta counterpart, is looking for a judicial review of the decision.

“It is our position that the federal government cannot simply declare plastics to be under its environmental jurisdiction,” Saskatchewan justice minister and attorney general Bronwyn Eyre said.

“Under the constitutional division of powers, it is well-established that provinces have exclusive jurisdiction to regulate specific industries. Establishing a competing federal regulatory framework in this area will simply create duplication, confusion and economic harm.”

The challenge will be heard from Tuesday to Thursday in Toronto. [...]

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These bottles aren’t mine, but I just internally groaned when my grandma made me bring all of this inside her garage for her. She has a sodastream and a fridge so I don’t understand the need to buy bottles of water and soda. Especially the tiny bottles of soda since it seems like a lot more waste.

In 2015, a research project conducted in England assessed the public’s response to a mandatory five pence charge for each single-use plastic bags. The policy was implemented to mitigate the terrible and global consequences of plastic use, and approximately five thousands subjects were interviewed to evaluate the effectiveness of said policy.

It was found that the environmental behavior changed significantly in the majority of England’s demographics. The frequency of taking plastic bags dropped by approximately 30% and the number of people who use their own bag rose by around 20%. Moreover, the support for the bag charged increased greatly.

Read the full story at: https://www.newsoftheuniverse.com/2019/03/the-change-of-behavior-because-of.html

City council has passed a bylaw aimed at limiting some single-use items that often end up in landfills.

Starting next year, businesses will have to collect a fee from customers for any single-use or reusable bags.

Council voted 10-4 Tuesday night in favour of the bylaw, which is similar to rules already in place elsewhere.

Coun. Kourtney Penner said several other Canadian cities have already brought in similar bylaws.

"The more touchpoints that we all have as consumers and thinking about our habits and thinking about what we intake into our own homes, the more conscientious we're going to be overall," Penner said. [...]

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