Customers okay with single-use plastic bag ban
Posted Oct 30, 2020 07:15:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Local stores and businesses will no longer be providing single-use plastic bags at the checkout.
As of Oct. 30, Nova Scotia became the third province in the country to enact a ban on plastic shopping bags and most consumers say they're just fine with that.
Although many retailers have already eliminated their use, plastic bags will not be handed over the counter anymore in the province.
Many customers in the Bayers Lake shopping district say they've had time to adjust.
“What I've been doing if I forget my bag is, I just take my groceries out in the cart to my car and just pack them in the trunk,” said one woman, who admittedly forgot her reusable bags at home.
Others said the move will be good for the environment.
“I'm a vet assistant,” said a woman who called herself an animal activist. “So many animals get killed by plastic bags, it just shouldn't be allowed.”
Another shopper went even further saying retailers aren't doing enough.
“There's still all kinds of plastic there, we all know that,” said a man named Fred, while returning to his vehicle from a major grocery chain outlet. “If you're going to do it, go 100 percent, don't go fifty.”
Exceptions to the plastic bag ban include bags for medical supplies, prescription drugs, flower wrap as well as for frozen items, meats and foods not pre-packaged.
Dry cleaning bags are also exempt.
The province said all remaining single-use plastic bags still in stores are to be recycled or donated to charities, which are still permitted to use them.
Under the ban, retailers will now offer cloth or paper bags for a price.
