5 cent Plastic Bags

Big news today was that Toronto is trying to implement a 5 cent fee for all plastic bags used by stores as part of their strategy to divert materials away from landfill sites.

In Aurora, Councillor Al Wilson initially took a stand about garbage and recycling as a private citizen and included it as part of his election campaign.

Mayor Morris generated considerable personal press on her Right to Dry campaign.

It will be interesting to see whether either champions this program, or whether some other Councillor will take it on. If Toronto can initiate a significant change like this, why can't Aurora. Maybe we can lead the fight for York Region.

This is as big an issue as the packaging issue that was raised in an earlier post. Regardless it will be interesting to see how our Council manages this issue.

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Guest Post: How much are we wasting on waste?

Thanks to Councillor Collins-Mrakas for the following Guest Post.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of the AURORA CITIZEN.

Why is it that everything you purchase today is encased in multiple layers of packaging? I don’t know about you, but in my humble opinion it shouldn’t require a blowtorch and an engineering degree to get a doll out of its wrapping! And you most definitely shouldn’t end up with a bag of garbage all for one ten inch high doll.

I understand that companies want to market their products in a certain way but it seems to me that they have little or no regard for the consequences of their packaging choices – and why should they? It is you and I - the customer - that pays the price for disposing of the packaging waste.

We learned environmental economics terms such as “full-cost accounting” and “cradle-to-grave” product management more than fifteen years ago in undergrad studies. The question is why isn’t it applied??

In Europe – Germany in particular – and in Sweden there have been regulatory mechanisms in place for well over 2 decades that require manufacturers to take back the packaging within which their products are sold. That’s a great concept. I doubt we’d see toys and electronics and novelties wrapped up in elaborate packaging if manufacturers or retailers were responsible for its disposal.

As we approach another municipal budget season, we need to look at ways to trim costs and manage waste. Given that a goodly portion of our levy dollars goes towards waste management and given that a significant portion of our waste stream is due to packaging waste I think that it is high time that our federal government look at appropriate legislation to address this issue.

I’d like to hear your thoughts…

Alison Collins-Mrakas
Councillor, Town of Aurora

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