At Green Action Centre, we know being green isn’t always easy. That’s why we wanted to give you a simple 5-point checklist to help you reduce the amount of plastic pollution in your life. If every person included this checklist in their everyday routine we could definitely curb our plastic pollution problem. Spread the word!
We need to find a way to stop the use of single-use and disposable plastics that are entering our environment everyday on a global scale. This is where you come in:
1. Skip the Straw
- When giving your server your fav drink order always add “No straw Please” to this transaction.
- Last year, plastic free peg championed this cause and got more than 30 restaurants to commit to only giving out straws upon request. Way to go, guys!
2. BYOB: bring your own reusable bag to the store instead of using those polluting single-use plastic ones. Need we say more?
3. Sign the Petition to Ban Plastic Bags in Winnipeg and share with coworkers, family and friends
- This campaign was launched by local youth at West Kildonan Collegiate in Winnipeg just a few weeks ago. Please support their efforts to make plastic bags a things of the past from our little part of the prairies!
4. Make a Commitment to Buy Green
- It’s time to deal with our problematic plastic habits and make important choices towards achieving a zero-waste life. On our blog we have a Zero-Waste Shopping Guide with practical tips and a list of business that support the consumer to reduce the amount of waste in their everyday lives. We encourage you to make a personal commitment to reduce your plastic consumption and educate others along the way.
5. Learn more about the impact that plastic has on our planet
- The Earth Day Network has put together a great resource which includes stats, pictures, videos and actions you can take. Knowledge is power!
- Green Action Centre will be participating in and promoting Plastic Free July again this year. We are looking forward to working alongside our community to live plastic-free wherever possible. We’ll all be putting our new habits to the test for this month-long challenge!
We encourage you to take this list and make it your own so that it works for you, spread the word to others and consider organizing your own Earth Day Action with friends – the date is April 22 every year!
Are you able to complete this checklist? Do you have any other easy plastic-free ideas you would add to this list? Let us know in the comments!
Yup. I definitely in favor of banning plastic bag. Let’s make our world better
I certainly think plastic bag use should be severely curtailed but I do wonder if other negative effects won’t result with a ban. For one thing, I refuse a plastic bag 90% of the time, but for those I do accept, I reuse them all as a garbage bag, to carry other things, to wrap something wet or keep something dry from becoming wet, etc.
I believe that simply making a bag a decision instead of an automatic service can be surprisingly effective in curbing use. Being forced to stop to consider whether one actually needs a bag for a purchase can be a step on a journey of reduced waste. A ban that precedes a change in habits will just result in rampant consumption of something else and waste in other areas.
ban plastic bags.
these have been banned elsewhere like California so just check with people there how to manage life without plastic bags.
With what do you propose to replace plastic bags? I am NOT a concern troll; I’m trying to head them off.
Hi Mike!
We appreciate the question. We actually wrote about several alternatives to using plastic bags in our blog here when the issue started to pique Winnipegger’s interest again back in January: https://greenactioncentre.ca/reduce-your-waste/banning-the-plastic-bag/
Also buying reusable bags and bringing them to the store with you is a habit we all would need to learn. If the bag is made of natural materials like cotton, made out of recycled products, or crocheted using re-purposed materials – all the better!
I personally think that if a ban should come into effect (and I do think it should) we would need to offer free reusable bags to low-income households and have them available free/at a reduced rate leading up to the ban.
We know that charging a fee per bag does not significantly curb disposable plastic bag use, many people now just factor that into their grocery bill without batting an eye. We need to think about using less, instead of just recycling more.
What do you use/propose people use to replace plastic bags? 🙂
– Liz