Common Sense Edmonton launched a petition calling for Edmonton City Council to drop its plastics restrictions proposal. .“Not content with constantly hiking taxes and failing to build infrastructure that's structurally sound, Edmonton City Council is now planning a ban on single-use items like plastic bags and takeaway containers,” said Common Sense Edmonton in a petition. .“You may have heard about similar efforts in other cities, or the recent calls by the federal government to define plastic as toxic, but this being Edmonton, they've found a way to make it even worse here.” .The petition received 1,188 signatures as of Thursday, with a goal of obtaining 2,000. .Edmonton City Council’s proposed bylaw will ban shopping bags made out of "any type of film plastic, which may include compostable, biodegradable, oxo-degradable, recycled, bio-plastic, or conventional plastics.”.The petition said it's absurd biodegradable and recycled plastic bags are being restricted. .The petition said the bylaw will “force restaurant and food service establishments to allow customers to bring their own cups, requires paper bags be made from 40% recyclable material, and restricts cutlery, straws, and other food service items from being offered unless the customer asks for them.”.It said Edmonton City Council seems to “literally want to control every minute aspect of our lives, under the justification of saving the environment.” .The first reason the advocacy group gave for opposing this policy is because plastic items make up a tiny fraction of waste in the world. It added having a reusable bag instead of a single-use plastic bag will not eliminate waste because 93% of it is in oceans from ten rivers in Asia and Africa..The second reason for its justification was single-use plastic bags can help the environment. Many people reuse their plastic bags, with some of them doing it multiple times. .Common Sense Edmonton said it wants to keep plastic items because of practicality. An example it offered was how paper straws melt in people’s drinks before finishing. .The petition said Edmonton is in this situation because of city council using “misleading public consultation sessions.”.A public consultation saw 81% of respondents tell Edmonton they want to use fewer disposable cups. .“But, we don't need council to regulate the entire economy in order for people to reduce their disposable cup usage — people can do that themselves right now,” it said. .“Common Sense Edmonton supports freedom and choice for consumers, and council should let Edmontonians who want to keep using plastic bags (including biodegradable bags) do so, while helping the environment.” .The Canadian government said it's moving forward in June with a plan to restrict single-use plastic products. .READ MORE: Canadian government to ban single-use plastics.“By the end of the year, you won’t be able to manufacture or import these harmful plastics,” said Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault. .“After that, businesses will begin offering the sustainable solutions Canadians want, whether that’s paper straws or reusable bags.”
