Chronically forgetful shoppers like myself will no doubt have noticed a change at most Whistler grocery stores—and at many other retail establishments—in recent months: plastic bags have all but disappeared.
Some stores still offer biodegradable plastic bags, but in most cases, if you left the reusable bag at home, your options are now paper or an unwieldy box—or, if you like to live dangerously, nothing at all.
Count me as the latter.
In my case, the immediate result of our overdue shift from plastic was several instances of a large, disoriented man first cursing himself at the checkout counter for once again forgetting his reusable bags, then doing a quick mental inventory of all available pockets and trying to imagine which items might fit where.
Observe as he awkwardly overburdens himself, wedging a bunch of bananas under one armpit and jabbing a finger through the plastic on the toilet paper as a makeshift handle, cradling his car keys in his teeth, shuffling out to the car in a delicate dance of grocery delivery.
How many times can one man play this undignified game before he remembers to bring one of the two dozen reusable bags stuffed in his closet or hanging by the door?
More than you might think, it turns out.
The shift is necessitated by new federal legislation brought into effect in December, banning the manufacture and import for sale of several single-use plastics, including checkout bags, cutlery, food service ware, ring carriers, stir sticks and straws.
Such items won’t actually be prohibited until December of this year, to allow retailers time to transition and use up their remaining stock.
B.C.’s government is following suit, announcing this month it will bring in new legislation, also effective this December, banning plastic shopping bags, disposable food service accessories, degradable plastics and any packaging made of hard-to-recycle plastics.
As mentioned, it’s long overdue. According to earth.org, more than 8 million tonnes of plastic enter our oceans every year, and plastic pollution in the oceans is on track to grow to 29 million metric tonnes by 2040.
Estimates have long suggested that, by 2050, there will be more plastic by weight in the ocean than fish.
Meanwhile, at least 100,000 marine animals die each year from getting entangled in plastic.
Those that survive are often still ingesting plastic waste or microplastics, which in turn travel up the food chain to land on our dinner plates.
At the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), staff was considering a local plastic ban that would align with the 35 other municipalities that have instituted them in B.C., but opted to back off when it became clear other levels of government were going to lead the charge.
“Of note, the largest suppliers of plastic bags in Whistler have all voluntarily phased out plastic bags already, additionally lowering the need for a ban to be implemented,” a communications official said.
“The RMOW has supported the transition away from plastic bags for some time, originally with a student-led initiative. We will continue to work with the hotel, grocery store and restaurant sector to provide sustainable solutions moving forward.”
Banning single-use plastic in the resort has been a goal of Councillor Arthur De Jong since before he was first elected in 2018, and he’s had more than one meeting with provincial environment minister George Heyman on the topic.
He likens those early exchanges to a flailing, angry teenager going up against a wise old man.
“He settled me down a bit, because I brought up plastics, and specifically single-use bags, and he said, ‘Well, we’re going to get there, but give us some time, because if you get out ahead as a municipality you don’t necessarily get ahead, because it involves supply chains, it involves changes at both the federal and provincial level, and so give us the time that we need to get there,’” De Jong recalled.
But, as De Jong’s father might say, politics moves like “molasses uphill in winter,” and the ban has been slow developing.
“I’m relieved, and appreciative, as well, to the minister, that we’re getting there,” he said.
In the past, the argument against banning plastic bags in Whistler, or at least part of it, was about how it might impact the convenience of tourists.
The flipside of that argument is that Whistler is well-positioned to educate and inform guests on why transitioning from plastic is important.
“We’ve lost that traction that Whistler has had on being recognized globally for our environmental stewardship efforts, and it’s time to be stepping up more and more again,” De Jong said.
“This is just an opportunity to engage our guests in a very positive way, so I don’t see downsides on this … Let’s just get on with it.”
While meeting our lofty climate goals will of course require governments to act—all governments—that doesn’t give any of us a pass on personal responsibility.
De Jong noted the individual carbon footprint of the average North American is about 21 to 23 tonnes of CO2 per capita, annually, and in Europe it’s closer to five or six tonnes.
“In order to hit our 2030 goals, we all need to be at five tonnes per capita in our Western economies, and that’s going to be very difficult for the North Americans, but if we don’t commit at the individual level we’re just not going to get there,” De Jong said.
“There’s many upsides to it. Riding our bikes more, [switching to] meatless diets, there’s cost savings, and we can actually be healthier and happier; trying to fix our ailing planet, we, in many ways, fix ourselves.”
As a childless adult who drives a new-ish car; eats, shops and recycles consciously; and who flies sparingly; my personal carbon footprint is somewhere in the five-to-10-tonne range, annually, according to ClimateHero’s Carbon Footprint Calculator.
That makes me a “climate consumer”—not quite a climate hero (under two
tonnes) or even a climate friend (two to five tonnes), but still not a climate villain (more than 10 tonnes).
The ban on plastic will force people to change, or at least stop to consider, their consumption and shopping habits. That one is low-hanging fruit. Inspiring the necessary shift to cleaner transportation will take more effort, or more widespread adoption of new clean technology.
But governments are well aware of that.
“As planners, we need to get smarter and smarter to outcompete, outconvenience, and outhealth—[we need to] get you to want to do it,” De Jong said.
“[One person using reusable bags] is a drop in the bucket, but when it becomes a trend, a trend becomes a market shift, and markets respond very quickly.”
