PLASTIC BAG BAN MAKING A DIFFERENCE

I am writing in response to the July 1 Guardian article, "On P.E.I., plastic bag ban embraced by many."

Personally, I think this ban is a terrific idea. Since P.E.I. banned single-use plastic bags, you no longer see plastic bags floating in the wind outside in the streets. This was a big step for P.E.I. to take, especially since it was the first province in Canada to ban singleuse plastic bags.

Doing something so small like this might not seem like it would make an impact, but reducing the normal 15 billion single-use plastic bags that are used in Canada every year by 30 million (the number of single-use plastic bags used in P.E.I. yearly) can still make an impact. You have to start somewheres in order to drastically change that 15 billion bags.

I also think this is a great move since P.E.I. is an island, and plastic can harm our marine life. We need to keep our oceans clean since they provide jobs for Islanders, give us food, and have such beautiful and mysterious wildlife. We don't want to lose those things, so this ban helps with that.

P.E.I. taking this step has lead to Newfoundland banning plastic bags as well.

Hopefully even more provinces will do this after seeing how two provinces have already managed to do so. Obviously there are still more steps P.E.I. can make to reduce our plastic footprint, but this is a great first step.

I'm glad that P.E.I.’s government has decided to make this move for our environment, and hopefully, more provinces will follow this reduction of plastics being used as well.

Anna Smith (a Grade 10 student at Three Oaks High School), Summerside