Bag Ban Sacked By CRD - Monday Magazine

Lana Popham says being caught in a game of jurisdictional ping-pong between the Capital Regional District and its constituent municipalities won’t hamper her quest to see plastic grocery bags banned on the south Island.

Popham, a one-time—and future, she promises—candidate for Saanich council, asked the CRD’s Solid Waste Advisory Committee for an outright ban on disposable plastic grocery bags in the region at its December 13 meeting.

CRD didn’t bite however, citing Hartland Landfill manager Tom Watkins’ assessment that plastic bags account for only one percent of material in the dump.

CRD staff concluded a ban on plastic bags at the landfill would be too difficult to enforce, and bags won’t be added to the dump’s list of 13 banned materials by the close of 2008, as Popham initially requested.

But the Saanich farmer took that news in stride.

“Now the municipalities can be on notice that this issue will be coming soon to a meeting near you,” she says. Popham is already on the agenda for a January North Saanich council session.

Popham was rebuffed in her initial approaches to municipalities in the area and was instead told that banning bags qualified as a regional issue. However, CRD has said it does not have the authority to ban plastic bags at point of sale, nor does it have the regulatory authority to impose a tax on bags that would be passed on to users.

Saanich councillor and CRD director Judy Brownoff says the issue is one that concerns every municipality in the region.

“As a CRD director and a Saanich politician, I believe this is a regional issue,” she says. “It’s one of those issues that crosses all borders. Could we ban [plastic grocery bags]? I guess we could, but we’d have to get everyone to buy in,” she says.

Instead, Brownoff says businesses should voluntarily embrace the use of cloth totes.

“Yes, it will cost a little more up front, but the cloth bags with the businesses logo on the sides will be around for a lot longer,” she says.

In April 2007, Leaf Rapids, Manitoba, became the first Canadian municipality to impose an outright ban on plastic bags, with businesses risking fines up to $1,000 if they distribute them.

My Date With The CRD.....

Letter To Editors Of Local Papers:

So I did it. After months of preparation, hours of letter collecting, many interviews, time on talk shows, talking about it, writing about it, blogging about it, I did it. My 5 minutes in the spotlight came on Thursday, December 13th. I was allowed to speak for 5 minutes at the CRD Solid Waste Advisory Committee. But lets back up a few months. I began this campaign to reduce disposable plastic bags by asking many of our 13 Municipalities within the CRD if they could take action against wasteful plastic grocery bags. They said it was not up to individual Municipalities this was a CRD decision. I took that advice to heart. I knew I had better organize a lot support from our communities and have extra momentum when I landed in a CRD boardroom stating my case. So the day came. It was on Thursday. The boardroom was fancy. I was nervous. I had printed off 100 of my hundreds of letters of support and brought them with me. I had 5 minutes to speak…I took 8. What happened? They told me that it was not a CRD issue and it was up to individual municipalities. Ahhhh, time well spent.

My Presentation:

My name is Lana Popham. I am a resident of Saanich. I have come here today to ask you to recommend to the CRD Environment Committee, that by the end of 2008, a ban on disposable plastic grocery bag within the CRD will be implemented.

I know that is a bold request. I know that asking the CRD to instigate a ban may be too radical. I know that the word “Ban” can create controversy no matter what is being banned.

But I am asking for one, never the less. After my presentation, if I have not made a solid case for a ban then I have a secondary request.

My secondary request is that the CRD invests money into a substantial educational campaign in order to push a voluntary reduction of these bags.

I started researching this topic last spring. I began looking at my own carbon footprint. I started to audit myself. I began with the amount of km I was driving. This lead to trying to reduce the amount of fossil fuels I used per week. Because I live in rural Saanich and because I am on so many committees and go to so many meetings, I found that reducing the amount I was driving quite difficult. This led me to reduce other actions that used fossil fuels. The easiest one to reduce and actually completely eliminate was my use of disposable plastic grocery bags.

I looked at the amount of oil that went into making plastic bags. This includes the amount of oil and energy used to get the oil to make the bag, then there is the actual oil in the bag, then there is the amount of oil and fuel used to distribute the bags to retailers. So already, before the bags are even used they have a huge carbon footprint. A statistic from the US is that is takes 12 million barrels of oil to make the bags that the US consumes annually.

Here in Canada an average family of 4 uses 1000 plastic bags per year. This is alarming.

I then started to investigate other facts about these bags. I assumed they were a landfill issue. So I emailed Allan Summers. He didn’t hesitate to tell me that they were not a landfill issue. He asked me if I had ever been on a Hartland landfill tour. He said I should educate myself before I continue. So I did. I went on a tour with Tom Watkins. It was incredible. I learned how well the Hartland landfill is managed and I learned that these bags really are not a landfill issue at all. In fact they are 1% of the waste in the landfill.

So off I went to find out what the real problems with these bags are besides wasting oil.
And what I found out was shocking. The waste of fuel is an unacceptable but the destruction to our sea life and wildlife is unbearable. Our habit of convenience is escaping our systems. From what I have read, we are only recycling 1-4% of them. The rest of them are either being used as garbage bags, or escaping into our environment.

There are many reports that show the oceans are filled with plastic. A significant amount of this plastic is bags. I have a friend that is part of the Bowker Creek Society here in Victoria and he says that each time it rains heavily the storm water runs into Bowker Creek and with that storm water come plastic bags. This is one way they get into the oceans.

This escape is translating into millions of deaths around the world.
Floating plastic bags look like jellyfish to sea turtles. Dolphins, seals and whales will also eat plastic and, with a false sense of fullness, often die of starvation. When plastic breaks down into smaller pieces, smaller birds and fish eat it. This is well documented and is not insignificant.

Canadians alone are using 10 billion plastic bags per year. Why am I asking the CRD in this region to implement a ban? This is because we live on an Island. We are surrounded by ocean. The effects of plastics on sea life are happening in our oceans. You can talk to any avid boater in this area and they will tell stories of plastic bags getting stuck in there engines. It’s common.

The facts go on and on. Why do I think we are ready to take action to reduce plastic bags in our region? Because I have spent the past 3 months asking people if they are ready. And they are. I have hundreds of letters of support. These are people that I don’t know. They are people that I do know. They are people living in our CRD. They are individuals. They are Community Associations. They are businesses. They are David Suzuki, The Sierra Club, The Georgia Straight Alliance, they are Municipal Councilors, they are the TBUCK Suzuki Foundation, they are Dr. Sinclair Philips of the Sooke Harbour House, and they are MLA David Cubberly. And this is just a sample of people who are in support of the CRD taking action and being a leader.

This is not a new idea. This is not my idea. I am not speaking alone. All over the world people are taking action and asking leaders to take this small step towards less waste. It is a very small piece of the puzzle. If we cannot be brave enough to take this step it worries me that we won’t be able to take any steps.

San Francisco has banned non-biodegradable plastic bags in large grocery stores, Ireland has a $.20 tax per bag, France is banning plastic bags starting 2010 but will start in Paris next year, South Africa has banned thin plastic bags, and Uganda has banned thin plastic bags and has taxes on thicker ones. There is a big list of places that are taking action.

We need to be on the list of places that are taking leadership. The time has come to take this step. I don’t want to hear why we can’t do it. I want to hear how we will do it. We have plenty of examples from around the world. We can learn from the successes and failures in order to create a successful, efficient, friendly, publicly acceptable model. I am asking you to be leaders. I am asking you to make a move.

Lana Popham
Saanich BC

A little challenge....in the Saanich News.

Keep holidays plastic bag free

Holiday shopping has begun. Although I would like to expound on the value of shopping for sustainable gifts I am choosing instead to put out a challenge to holiday shoppers. Each time you go out to purchase gifts in the Capital region, I challenge you to bring your own reusable shopping bags. I challenge you to return home with your purchases and not with any extra plastic shopping bags. This is not a difficult challenge but imagine if all shoppers did this over the next month. How many bags would we save from entering and destroying our environment? How many barrels of oil would we conserve if we just said no. So simple, so important. I challenge all of you.

Lana Popham

Saanich

Remember the days when we were so crazy and used plastic grocery bags?

‘People will get used to it’

Going green looks fine to shoppers

BY CARLAWILSON Times Colonist staff

Customers at Langford’s Real Canadian Superstore didn’t seem to mind bringing their own bags to the checkout yesterday, as the store became what it says is the first major grocery retailer in B.C. to go plastic-bag free.

Shoppers packed purchases into reusable bags and plastic bins, as well as old plastic bags. Many had already switched to cloth bags, part of a growing movement against single-use plastic bags.

“The idea is a good thing,” said shopper Oscar Trachsel of Metchosin. “People will get used to it.”

Langford’s Nancy Peddie, who packed close to $200 worth of groceries into plastic bags saved from previous shopping trips, agreed. “There are too many [plastic bags] out there.”

The 127,500-square-foot Langford store is the second Superstore in the chain to eliminate plastic bags, as part of the company’s goal of reducing the number dumped in landfills by a billion a year. The first was in Milton, Ont., where the move was “very, very popular,” said Lori Stene, spokeswoman for parent company Loblaw Cos. Ltd. “People in general are looking for ways to be more environmentally responsible.”

About 950,000 plastic bags a year were distributed from the Langford store prior to the ban. To replace them, the store has sent Langford households reusable bags made from 85 per cent recycled plastic water bottles, Stene said. The bags are selling for two for 99 cents until Dec. 8. Area residents also received a coupon for a free plastic bin with a minimum purchase of $25.

Lana Popham of Central Saanich showed up at the store yesterday with a letter congratulating the company, and is urging other grocery chains to follow the example. She wants a ban on disposable plastic bags in the region by the end of 2008. “Timing is everything and I think people are ready for this change. People are sick of wasting.”

Environmentalists say Canadians use about 10 billion plastic bags a year. Many end up in the ocean, where they look like jellyfish and are swallowed by animals such as whales, sea turtles and sea birds, Popham said. Dumped in landfills, the bags have been predicted to last up to 1,000 years.

The move to ban or limit the bags is global. Tiny towns like Leaf Rapids, Man., to big cities like San Francisco, have banned the bags, while Ireland has a “plastax” of about 20 cents per bag.

Already, most grocery store chains in Greater Victoria sell reusable bags, and many pay customers a few cents for each bag they reuse.

Date with the CRD.

I have received the date that I am able to present my case. I have approximatley 5 minutes to speak in front of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) on December 13th. I have received many letters of support and I am excited about that. But, I could always use more.
I will be requesting a total ban on plastic grocery bags, with a second request trailing behind. My second request will be, that if the CRD in unprepared to grant my first request, they consider a total education campaign about reusable bags. This education campaign would be loaded with the facts about the damage plastic bags do to our environment. It would explain the waste factor. Basically education would drive a voluntary ban. This would be money well spent!
Even if they decide that my first request is reasonable, education would have to accompany it.
I am excited to speak with them!

Comment by the TC!

Editorial: The end of plastic bags

Times Colonist

Published: Wednesday, November 14, 2007

So life ends for the ubiquitous white plastic grocery bag. Only 30 years ago, it muscled paper bags aside at the checkout counter, a triumph of technology and petrochemicals.

And tomorrow, the plastic bag gets shoved out in its turn, as the Langford Real Canadian Superstore quits keeping the bags on hand for customers. More than any talk of bans or taxes, this signals the beginning of the end for the plastic bag.

After all, this isn't some organic food market in Fairfield that's giving plastic the push in favour of hemp bags. The Superstore is a classic big-box shrine to shopping. If the green winds are blowing strongly enough to sweep plastic bags from its bank of checkout counters, then their future looks bleak everywhere.

Superstore is getting rid of the bags as part of the effort by parent Loblaw Companies to go green. British Columbians use about 1.3 billion bags a year -- 3.5 million a day.

Even with reuse, more than 95 per cent of the bags end up in landfills -- or waving sadly from tree branches and fence lines.

Defenders end up arguing mainly that other environmental issues are more important. They do say the bags don't contribute much volume to waste and that if people don't get them at the store, they'll just end up buying other plastic bags to use around the house.

But waste is waste. The bags have acquired a symbolic importance, showcasing our willingness to use hydrocarbons to create a product with a lifespan of days that remains in the environment -- including the oceans -- for centuries.

Other jurisdictions have taken steps to curb the plastic bag's use. Ireland introduced a tax on plastic bags -- about 22 cents -- in 2002. Their use has fallen by 90 per cent since then. Communities from Leaf Rapids, Man., to San Francisco have banned the bags. London has joined other British communities in seeking legislation bringing a ban.

The action by Superstore suggests the change is coming in Canada with or without government action. The company, an astute marketer, has decided the public today is opting for the environment over convenience.

More than that, the ban shows just how much our attitudes have shifted toward environmental concern.

Just 40 years ago, we welcomed plastic bags as yet another example of modern life's ability to deliver up new improved versions of whatever came before.

Now, we're looking back to cloth bags and carry carts, choosing conservation over convenience. It's a welcome change.

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007

A bold move.....Who is next to step up?

Langford store B.C.'s first to ban plastic bags

CanWest News Service

Published: Friday, November 09, 2007

VANCOUVER -- Shoppers at the Real Canadian Superstore in Langford will notice a big change when they check out their groceries beginning next Thursday: no plastic bags.

As part of the national retailer's green initiative, the grocery chain has selected the West Shore store -- which is being relaunched next week -- to be what it calls the first major grocery and general merchandise retail store in B.C. to eliminate traditional plastic bags at the checkout.

As part of the plan, each household in Langford will be mailed a complementary reusable "green bag" and a coupon for a free "green box" with a minimum $25 purchase. The green box fits into a shopping cart and holds the equivalent of three to five plastic bags worth of groceries.

Until Dec. 8, shoppers will be offered a buy-one-get-one-free deal for the green bag and $1 off additional green boxes.

As well, shoppers may bring in any reusable bag, even from another retailer, for their purchases.

According to its news release, Loblaw Companies Ltd. made a commitment in April to reduce one billion plastic grocery bags from Canada's landfills within one year.

It said that reducing the number of plastic grocery bags offered in stores and offering more sustainable choices, will help achieve this goal. Currently, the release stated, Canadians use about 10 billion plastic bags per year.

IN THE BAG

- Estimated number of plastic bags that are handed out worldwide each minute: one million.

- Estimated number of plastic bags that end up in landfills each year worldwide: 500 billion to one trillion.

- Estimated volume of plastic bags that end up in Canadian landfills each year: 28 million kilograms.

- Number of plastic bags Canadians use each year: 10 billion.

- Number of plastic bags that Loblaw Companies Limited hopes to reduce from Canada's landfills in a year: one billion.

- Estimated energy equivalent saved when one tonne of plastic bags is reused or recycled: 11 barrels of oil.

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007

Bags of Bags!

Ban bags? But what will I put my garbage in? Let me tell you, if I had a plastic bag for every time I heard this...I would have bags and bags and bags of bags!
All kidding aside, this is a really good question. What to put our garbage in? Let's face it, plastic grocery bags are the perfect size for going under the sink to collect our waste. So there is a reuse for them....just not all of them. I have gone and purchased "Biobags" from the grocery store. They are not cheap. They come to about .50cents a bag. They are compostable and biodegradable. So that is an option. I like it because it makes me reconsider what is going into the garbage as waste. It makes me think about what I am buying. So I am trying to choose more recyclable packaging instead of waste packaging. BUT...some people do not want to buy garbage bags. Fair enough. So here is a thought. If you must use plastic grocery bags for your garbage then only get the exact amount you need for garbage. Figure it out. Do you throw out 2 bags of garbage every week? Then limit your plastic bags consumption to two bags. The rest of the time use reusable bags. We don't need bags of bags under our sinks....
Enough ranting for one sunny day,
Lana

How can you help?

I am sitting here this evening and playing conversations over in my head from the days many phone calls. It is so great to get calls and emails from people who are 100% behind this idea. People who live in Victoria and the rest of Vancouver Island who have been living their life as if there already is a ban in place. What a great group of people. The question that is most frequently asked is this:

How can we help?

You can help me by writing a letter of support. I need as many letters of support as I can get to present to all Municipalities and to the CRD.

I need to be able to say:

"Look at these! These are letters from people in our CRD that care about our environment and care about our world. These are people who care enough to write a letter of support for this idea to reduce plastic bags in our region. These are people who are speaking with me!"

That's what I need from you.

Good night and thanks,

Lana

"If you can make it work here, You can make it work anywhere, it up to you, New York, New York"!

From: Edith Honan, Reuters
Published October 29, 2007 10:57 PM
New York may join crackdown on plastic bags
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City may follow an international trend and crack down on plastic shopping bags,
seeking to cut their use with a plan officials hope will be a model for other cities.
A proposal introduced on Monday requires stores larger than 5,000 square feet to set up an in-store recycling program
and sell reusable bags.
Some 700 food stores plus large retailers such as Target and Home Depot would have to collect used bags and provide
a system for turning them over to a manufacturer or to third-party recycling firms.
Stores would be required to use bags printed with a reminder to consumers: "Please return this bag to a participating
store for recycling."
Environmentalists have targeted plastic bags as a scourge that take years to biodegrade and contaminate soil and water.
"We think this strikes the right balance between conscience and convenience," said Councilman Peter Vallone, a co-
sponsor of the bill, which needs approval from the city council and environmentally minded Mayor Michael
Bloomberg.

The bill was expected to come to a vote within several months.
In 2002, Ireland introduced a tax on plastic bags, reducing their use by 90 percent. Some communities in Australia have
banned them in retail stores since 2003.
In March, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags from large supermarkets and the state of
California enacted a law in July that requires large stores to take back plastic bags and encourage their reuse.
Americans use an estimated 84 billion plastic bags annually, and the production of plastic bags worldwide uses over 12
million barrels of oil per year, the council said.
Recycled bags can be used to produce new bags plus a variety of plastic products, including furniture.
Estimates vary widely for how long it takes plastic bags to decompose, and some environmentalists say it is impossible
to know because plastics have only been used commercially in recent decades.
© Reuters2007All rights reserved
addImpression("460316_Next Article");

From the "Saanich News" this week.

Paper or plastic? No thanks...

October 26, 2007

Lana Popham, in her Saanich kitchen with her dog, George, shows the variety of cloth bags she’s collected. Popham is proposing that all plastic bags be banned from the CRD by late 2008.

by Sharon Tiffin/News staff

Resident wants plastic bags eliminated from region’s stores

Lana Popham’s on a mission.

The Saanich resident is sick of seeing plastic bags plague the environment – killing animals, clogging drains and littering yards and streets.

Her plan is to go right to the top – CRD’s Solid Waste Committee – to ask that all plastic grocery bags be banned from the Capital Region by the end of 2008.

“The plastic bag situation is so wasteful and the amount of harm it does to our environment is astounding when you read about it,” Popham said.

The committee meets in December. Popham will have five minutes to plead her case, then it’s waiting time until she gets a yay or nay from the committee.

Popham’s goal is to initially only have plastic grocery bags banned. Eventually, though, she would like to see no plastic bags at all in the region.

Canada’s Environmental Protection Agency estimates only 0.6 per cent of plastic bags are recycled. Saanich’s Hartland landfill has been looking at the possibility of a plastic bag recycling program, but recycling plastic bags is very difficult, said Alan Summers, senior manager of solid waste for the CRD. It would require all bags be turned inside out and possibly rinsed to remove crumbs and spills, called contaminants, that make recycling impossible.

Summers estimates plastic bags make up less than one per cent of waste that lands in Hartland Landfill, but the actual number of bags thrown out is too hard to guess. He added many plastic bags at the landfill get there because they’re reused as garbage bin liners.

Leaf Rapids, a tiny town of 550 people in northern Manitoba, became the first community in Canada to ban plastic bags. It imposes a fine of $1,000 to retailers that distribute single-use plastic bags and have seen a dramatic reduction in use of the bags, according to a CBC report.

There are several alternatives to single-use plastic grocery bags. Thrifty Foods switched to distributing only biodegradable grocery bags in August.

These are expected to break down in two years, as opposed to as much as 1,000 years for non-degradable bags.

But the CRD says degradable bags aren’t recyclable and can even contaminate other plastics.

Several grocers, such as Thrifty Foods and Safeway, have bins in-store to collect grocery bags for recycling.

Popham has switched to reusing plastic grocery bags and going shopping with cloth bags.

Thrifty Foods offers a three-cent refund for shoppers who reuse bags. It’s also feasible to not use bags at all, Popham says.

Communities such as Rossland in the Kootenays have passed bylaws banning plastic bags.

There’s no enforcement, though, and compliance is voluntary.

“I don’t think that’s good enough. It’s not helping,” Popham said. The ban has to be absolute.

In the meantime, Popham is doing what she can to spread the word and try to convince other people to break their dependency on plastic bags.

“I don’t really think it’s very controversial, I think it’s just a habit.”

ecardone@saanichnews.com

---

Canadian Tire Reusable Bag Promotion!

Yes it is true, Canadian Tire is on the case. They had a promotion this past weekend where they gave away reusable bags with every purchase. A great idea. I am going to call them and ask how many they gave away.

Some great information from T Buck Suzuki Foundation.

Here is a lot of information about plastic.

Jim at The T Buck Suzuki Environmental Association.

Thanks Jim!

He sent two links: http://www.culturechange.org/e-letter-plastics.html

and http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Ocean/Honolulu-Patch-Of-Plastic13feb06.htm

A great morning with CFAX 1070!

I had a very good time with Joe Easingwood at CFAX this morning. I was able to get this cause a little more attention. I think the callers were overall very supportive of lessening the use of plastic bags but some may not have been so keen on a complete ban. I think it was 50/50. I hope I can go back again and have Part 2 of the bag issue. I failed to mention all the destruction that plastic bags do to wildlife and sea life. So I will ask for another opportunity. Joe Easingwood was a wonderful host and I thank him for the opportunity.

In the meantime, I am gathering as many regional stories as I can on local environmental problems caused by these bags. My friend Ian Graeme, who is part of the Bowker Creek Society, mentioned that they often find plastic bags in the creek and pull them out. He is going to send pictures.

So what happen after these millions of bags fail to return to a recycling depot or fail to be used as a garbage bags ending up at the dump? It is a very sad fact that many of these bags find themselves floating in our oceans. The story gets even more sad. Whales, fish, sea turtles, sea birds, and many other creatures think that these floating bags look like food. Specifically Jelly Fish. They ingest these bags and then suffer. I have read countless examples of plastic being found in the stomachs of deceased sea life. One story described a whale being found with 400kgs of plastic in its stomach.

The stories could go on and on. But I think you probably get the picture.

So is this a good enough reason to get rid of these bags?

Calling it a day,

Lana Popham

Hartland Landfill, what a place!

After delivering my letters and "biobags" to the Saanich Municipal Hall I was off to the Hartland Landfill. I was a little afraid to see it up close. I was worried that I would feel hopeless and defeated when I saw all the garbage. But to my surprise, what I saw was pretty amazing!

I had a great visit with the Hartland Landfill Operations Superintendent Tom Watkins. He was completely prepared for my visit. He had studies to show me, facts to tell me and a real hands on view regarding disposable plastic bags. I had imagined that plastic bags would be everywhere around the area but this is not the case.

Tom took me out in his truck for a tour. We went all around the different areas and I was able to ask many questions.

I learned so much, but one thing that stands out is that plastic bags take up so little room in the landfill. They only take up less than 1% of the solid waste composition. This means that plastic grocery bags are not a volume problem.

I got to watch a few garbage trucks unload on the active landfill site. It was interesting to see the garbage inside a sea of plastic grocery bags, mixed in with all the other stuff that ends up at the dump. I saw many plastic bottles such as bleach bottles. It occurred to me that these should also have a deposit like pop cans. Tom told me that this is a Provincial Government Issue. ( I am going to look into how to approach that.)

So from this tour I have decided that plastic grocery bags really are not a landfill issue unless you consider that fossil fuel is used to make these bags and although they are safely buried at Hartland, they are a complete waste of oil and energy. I don't think this is a sustainable, responsible practice. But under the circumstances Hartland is handling it really well.

So now what? Is banning these bags in the CRD a reasonable thing to do? I would like to say yes. I would like to yell YES. But I can't quite do that yet. After seeing the many recyclable items that end up being buried at Hartland, I have to say that perhaps another approach is needed. Perhaps they should be banned. But first I think one of the most effective ways to change a behavior is through education and a deposit system. Why can't our BC government put a deposit on all items that should not end up as garbage? Why don't we ask them? I will add it to my list!

So that is it for today. I will share other information I learned another time.

Tomorrow I am on CFAX 1070am. Call in and have your voice heard.

Goodnight,
Lana

Issues, issues, issues! Boy, do I have issues!

I have started this blog to help keep track of things I am involved in over the next year. I have so many interests that I have to really manage my time and energy wisely.

My current rant is to do with banning disposable, single use, plastic, shopping bags from our CRD. Such a big statement from such a short person you may think. Yes, it may be asking too much, but, you have to start somewhere. Check in and I will tell you about my tour of the Hartland Landfill. I had a CRD employee tell me to educate myself before I pursue this idea. He suggested I tour the landfill. GREAT IDEA! So I am off to tour on Monday.

On Monday morning I will be delivering some examples of biodegradable bags to the Saanich Municipal Hall. These will accompany a letter to Mayor and Council. The letter is as follows:


October 20, 2007

Saanich Municipality
770 Old West Saanich Rd
Victoria, B.C.
V9E 2G8


Dear Mayor and Council of the Municipality Of Saanich,

I am writing to request that the Municipality of Saanich adopt the use of biodegradable bags instead of plastic garbage bags within all municipal buildings and parks.

The switch to biodegradable bags will fit into your new Carbon Neutral Plan. The use of biodegradable bags will reduce the number of regular plastic garbage bags used daily. This action reduces a dependency on a product derived from fossil fuels thus fitting into your new plan.

Biodegradable bags are versatile and are proven to be effective by a local waste management company. I can give more details if requested. I have included a package of bags for your inspection. I hope that each of you will take one home and try it.

By adopting this request you would be setting a great example to the rest of our community and to our neighboring municipalities. Saanich is a leader in so many ways. This would simply be another example of excellent leadership.

Thank-you,
Lana Popham

This "biobags in Saanich" idea is one that my friend Mike and I came up with the other night. Tune in for an update!

Tuesday I will be on CFAX 1070 am to discuss the banning bags topic with Joe Easingwood at 8:15am. It will be an open phone talk show so feel free to call in. 386-1161

Wednesday I will be going before the CRD Environmental Committee to have my 15 minutes in the spotlight. I will suggest that these bags are banned. I will also suggest that if that is too much to ask then maybe we could invest some money in educating the public on why these bags are a waste.

So that is what I am up to this week!

Have a sustainable day!

Lana