Ban Plastic Bags In Winnipeg

We, the undersigned, respectfully request that the city of Winnipeg introduce legislation that would ban single-use, disposable plastic bags in Winnipeg. The average Winnipeg family of four consumes an average of 1000 plastic bags per year, yet the city currently lacks the ability to process plastic bags at their recycling facility. A ban on plastic bags would help preserve the integrity of our local ecosystems, reduce the burden on Winnipeg landfills, and cut back litter within the city premises.

Plastic bags never decompose; they only break up into small pieces that can contaminate soils and water supplies. Eventually this toxic debris will be ingested by animals and enter into the food chain. Each year hundreds of thousands of water animals die from ingesting plastic bags, mistaking them for food.

The movement against plastic bags has been growing steadily around the world. Leaf Rapids, MB has already introduced a plastic bag ban with an overwhelmingly positive response. In Ireland, the government introduced a Plastax (plastic bag tax) that has cut consumption by 90\% over night and raised $9.6 million for environmental waste and management projects. So far, plastic bags are either taxed or banned in 15 countries: Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Spain, the U.K, China, Australia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and parts of the United States. The Indian capital city of Delhi, one of the worlds most populous cities at nearly 14 million people, recently implemented a complete ban on plastic bags in January 2009.
There are many alternatives out there, such as reusable cloth bags, bags made from recycled products, bags made from starches, biodegradable polymer and other renewable resources. We thank all local representatives for their time on this and hope we can quickly and effectively establish this small change here in Winnipeg.