Hello and welcome (back) to the Planet Forward blog on this lovely TIFF Friday here in Toronto. We’re fortunate to have the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on our doorstep and this year is proving to be the biggest one yet. But TIFF is not the only thing we’re proud of today. We also want to give a shout out to Toronto for reducing the use of plastic bags and increasing its use of reusable bags.

Planet Forward Reusable Organic Cotton Bag with "A Good Planet is Hard to Find" design (now on sale for $5.00 – click to enlarge image)

We first wrote about the bag-free policy that was passed in June 2009 in Toronto with some skepticism. We were not sure that a five cent fee being charged to consumers for plastic bags by retailers was going to have an impact. We understood that the purpose was to help curb the number of plastic bags that end up in Toronto landfills but we questioned if this was the best route to take to truly make a difference. Were people going to accept that they now have to pay for bags? Would retailers enforce the policies and charge customers appropriately? Many of these questions were answered just one month after the fee was instituted as there was a reported 80% drop in use at grocery stores alone! Grocery stores were the biggest plastic bag culprit so this was a sign that, yes the fee was making a difference afterall.

According to CP24.com “in 2007, Ontarians were using seven million plastic bags each day. That equals four bags per person–more than our fill of bags!” Four bags per person was a clear indication that something had to be done about the plastic bag situation and we needed government intervention because we clearly were not going to do it on our own. Surprisingly, in the end the bag free policy fee has made a difference. Some retailers report as many as 70% of their customers now bring their own reusable bags. How amazing is that? It is great to hear that retailers are onboard with this initiative as they truly dictate its success and failure. There may be some who still resist but hopefully customers pick up the slack in that case and refuse their offer of a free plastic bag and pull out their own funky reusable bag.

In Ontario, a few chains have implemented the five cent fee outside of Toronto as well for the sake of consistency so that all their customers are treated the same regardless of which location they shop at. This is fantastic because it is only for the collective good to have this initiative mushroom. It’s best that everyone get used to bringing their own reusable bags with them regardless of where they live or shop. While it is all well and good that retailers are making consumers think about each and every plastic bag they use, what about the bags you already have? Well now you can recycle them in Toronto. You can now empty out your drawer, container or bag of bags and recycle them. This way you know that they will not end up in a landfill. Check your local area recycling depots and confirm you are able to recycle them in your area. If not, find out why. Change will only happen if people demand it.

The drop in the use of plastic bags in Toronto is an example of how government and private sector businesses can and should work together to make a difference for the environment. Kudos to Toronto, for a job well done. Now if we can only get them to institute a reusable bottle policy to get rid of all those plastic water bottles or a reusable mug law to decrease the disposable coffee cups that seem to make their way everywhere. Baby steps. It’s progress not perfection and reusable bags is a great first step.