In Fort Mcmurray, life has gone on with few problems after plastic bags

Municipality banished single- use sacks in 2010

For the last year, residents of Fort McMurray, the small Alberta community synonymous with the oilsands, have lived without plastic bags.

That’s not necessarily an easy task since consumers have become dependent on the ubiquitous bag since the 1970s, using it for everything from groceries to lining garbage bins, to picking up dog poop.

Yet the Fort Mac folks are adjusting to the change, it seems.

Fort McMurray is part of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, located about 430 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. After being handed a 2,300name petition, the regional council voted unanimously in 2010 to ban the single- use plastic bag. The law came into effect last September and bans the distribution of single- use bags at retailers. Liquor stores, pharmacies and certain types of restaurants are exempt. Fort McMurray is not the first western jurisdiction to ban bags. Five years ago Leaf Rapids, Man., became the first municipality in North America to ban them, followed by San Francisco. Los Angeles is phasing a ban in. Toronto will be the first large city in Canada when the law goes into effect Jan. 1.

Dori St. Pierre, one of the owners of Drop Dead Darlings, a boutique clothing store in Fort McMurray said she offers free cloth bags to customers who spend $ 100, those who spend less can buy one for $ 3. She doesn’t think the ban has harmed business, but noted that the general complaint in the city seems to be that people are accumulating too many reusable bags and then just tossing them in the garbage.

“You go to the store and forget your bags and you have a bunch of stuff you need so you buy one for 99 cents and then end up with too many.”

“It’s pretty controversial. I don’t know if the same number of reusable bags are being tossed out as plastic bags were in the past, but it is something to think about,” said St. Pierre.

“I do think it is a good idea and we are using a lot less packaging.”

Kerri Mercer said she needs four or five reusable bags to shop for her Fort McMurray family of three and still routinely forgets to bring enough along.

“I’m still trying to remember. I forget every time and it’s pretty annoying.”

Since the ban came into effect, Mercer has amassed about 60 reusable bags, joining the roughly 200 plastic bags stuffed under her sink. Both types do wind up in the city’s garbage cans, she said. While the near- daily ding is a popular topic for casual complaints, the ban still has broad support in the community, Mercer said. Having the option to buy a cheaper plastic one would be nice though, she added.