MARY’S HARBOUR, N.L. – One southern Labrador municipality is about to take a big step in making their town more ecofriendly.
Mary’s Harbour town council is in the process of drafting a by-law to ban single-use plastic shopping bags.
It intends on replacing the bags with paper and reusable bags.
The decision was made after frequent discussions around the council table.
Mayor Alton Rumbolt hopes it will help keep the town cleaner, with fewer plastic bags littering the local environment.
The neighbouring community of Lodge Bay, a local service district, will participate in the ban as well, as many residents also shop there. Its grocery store, Mona’s Place, will be part of the ban.
Rumbolt says details haven’t been worked out on when the ban will be enacted.
“Everything is still in the works,” he stressed. “It’s a lot of work to be done. We’re just in the process.”
Through his discussions with locals, Rumbolt believes the response has been mostly positive.
He says they will need to give locals and the stores time to adjust to the change.
“We got to give the stores time to get rid of the ones that got them (plastic bags) and get into the new bags,” he said. “It’s going to take time.”
Rumbolt is hoping within a year, perhaps less, they can be completely free of single-use plastic shopping bags.
“We’re learning as we go,” he said.
According to Rumbolt, the town is considering the possibility of purchasing reusable bags and distributing a certain number to each household to help facilitate the transition.
