by Candice Keast
Canadians use between 9 and 15 billion plastic bags a year - that's enough to
circle the globe a whopping 55 times. And that's a lot of oil being used to make single-use bags that are
discarded a few minutes after use. Going plastic-free can be a challenge - and that's no joke. Plastic is
everywhere.
In July, thousands of Torontonians, including staff here at the City of
Toronto, took the Plastic-Free July Pledge. As you could probably guess, this was
no easy feat. Our struggle was seriously real but we did our best – and ended
up making quite a difference. Gold stars for all!
Over 200 City of Toronto staff took the pledge and in the process became
more conscious about just how ubiquitous plastic is. While it's relatively easy
to find reusable shopping bags, water bottles, and coffee tumblers, other
reusable items were a bit harder to come by. Fortunately there are many participating
Live Green
Perks businesses who sell these products and offer exclusive deals
for members. We listed some of these in a previous blog post.
In a follow-up survey with staff, we learned that plastic (including Styrofoam
trays) at the supermarket were the hardest to avoid. I personally found that it
was easy to get tripped up by the little things, like that time I was in the
checkout line and did a triple take at
the little plastic window in my cardboard box of pasta, all the time with a
sinking feeling that there would be no pasta for dinner (there wasn't).
In the table below (after the jump), I've summarized feedback from City staff, including
some of challenges they faced. Additionally, you'll see some tips on where
these items should go when you are finished with them.
