Islanders making quick adjustment to ban on plastic bags

Islanders appear to be making a hasty adjustment to fewer plastic bags.

A ban has been in place on P.E.I. for over a month now. The changes are part of the Plastic Bag Reduction Act.

Tom MacPhee was doing some shopping in Cornwall, P.E.I., this past week. He said the hardest part to the bag ban is to remember to take his reusable bags. into the store from his car.

"A lot of the times I forget," he said.

But he offered another solution. "Bring the cart full of groceries without any bags out to your trunk," he said.

He said the bag ban has caused no major problems for him. "I agree with this, this whole conception," MacPhee said.

Not just grocery stores

Island resident Ellen Stetson said not much has changed in her world. She was already using reusable bags at grocery stores.

"The only thing I have to think about is taking it into smaller convenience stores," she said.

Stetson said she doesn't forget her bags in the car often because she has already gotten used to the habit of grabbing them before going into the grocery store.

"I always just have them in the back of my car. Sometimes I'll get into the grocery store and have to run back, but most of the time it's just a habit already for me."

What about tourists?

However, not everyone on P.E.I. during the summer is from the province. Tourists may not know about the provincewide ban on plastic bags.

Jane Aldridge and Blair Gordon are visiting from Ontario. They were shopping in Charlottetown and both said they had no idea about the ban.

"We asked for a plastic bag and they said, 'Sorry, we don't have any,'" Aldridge said.

But they haven't had any major issues.

"We have been getting along just fine," Aldridge said. "I think it is a wonderful idea. Anything to save the environment," Aldridge said.

Both of them were using boxes and paper bags for their goods. "They can be recycled," Gordon said.

The new rules came into effect July 1 and prohibit businesses from offering single-use plastic bags at the checkout.

They have been replaced with paper or reusable bag options and businesses are now required to charge a minimum of 15 cents for a paper bag and around $1 for reusable bags.

However, there are a few exceptions. Businesses are allowed to offer small plastic bags for food safety, medications and dry cleaning.

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