One Free Reusable Shopping Bag to Every Home in Squamish

Greener Footprints, a local non-profit society, will be launching its Kick Your Bag Habit Squamish Farmers Market downtown Squamish. The launch marks the start of a month-long promotion to help people to reduce disposable plastic bag use and ease the transition to a more environmentally friendly reusable bag. More than 30 local businesses have signed on to the campaign, offering deals, freebies, discounts, and prizes when customers bring their Squamish reusable bag to retail outlets.

In the coming week, every home in Squamish will receive a sturdy reusable bag delivered by volunteers and school students, enclosed with tips and solutions about how to reduce the number of plastic bags people use in their home.

“Canadians use nine to 15 billion plastic shopping bags every year. The average plastic bag is used for five minutes to carry your purchases home, yet these disposable items can take up to 1000 years to break down, creating waste management problems, devastating natural environments, and killing wildlife,” states Tracey Saxby, Co-Founder & Executive Director of Greener Footprints.

“We're at a turning point where our society needs to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and reduce the amount of resources that we use in our daily lives. Reducing disposable plastic bag use is a great first step towards achieving that goal and will help protect wild spaces, reduce our landfill waste, and decrease our greenhouse gas emissions," adds Saxby.

Saxby is currently working with communities across British Columbia to reduce plastic bag use, following a successful pilot campaign in Rossland, which achieved a 75% reduction in plastic bag use in less than one year.

In April 2007, District of Squamish Council resolved to achieve a 50% reduction in plastic bag use in Squamish by 2010.

“I’ve seen an amazing transformation in people’s behaviour and attitudes to reusable bags in the past year as Tracey launched this initiative in Squamish,” says Councillor Patricia Heintzman. “I’m proud Squamish asserted its leadership and partnered with Greener Footprints on this initiative.”