Phase one of Nanaimo’s bylaw banning plastic checkout bags is now in effect. The bylaw encourages the use of reusable bags by eliminating use of plastic bags and sets fees for paper bags and new reusable bags.
As a public service, the Nanaimo Beacon has prepared this handy guide to what’s allowed and what’s not.
| What’s Not Okay | What’s Still Totally Okay |
| Plastic grocery bags | Unlimited use of disposable plastic produce bags for holding produce |
| Clamshell hard-plastic case for butter lettuce | |
| Plastic bags for bulk grocery items | |
| Those styrofoam “jackets” for Japanese pears | |
| Wrapping individual mandarin oranges in dyed paper | |
| Individual plastic bottles containing tap water | |
| Fruit cut into cubes and sold in disposable plastic containers | |
| Individual hamburger patties wrapped in plastic in a styrofoam holder | |
| Two corn-on-the-cobs individually shrink-wrapped in plastic | |
| Baby carrots in plastic bags | |
| Baby potatoes in plastic bags | |
| Ready-made dinners packaged in non-recyclable black plastic containers | |
| Child lunchable “snacks” packaged in both hard and soft disposible plastic | |
| Individually packaged yogurt in plastic containers | |
| Separate Keurig coffee pods made from hard plastic and alumimum | |
| Disposable plastic picnic cutlery | |
| Red, yellow, and green peppers held by a styrofoam container and wrapped in plastic | |
| Sushi packaged in a black clamshell disposable plastic container | |
| …and 487 other forms of plastic still perfectly fine to use |
Nanaimo’s new bylaw says paper bags need to contain at least 40% post-consumer recycled content and be labelled as recyclable. Reusable bags for sale should be washable and capable of at least 100 uses.
Here is a handy visual reference, in case you’re still confused about what’s okay and what’s not:
Still Totally Okay:
Still Totally Okay:
Still Totally Okay:
Still Totally Okay:
This is only Phase 1 of Nanaimo’s grocery bag bylaw.
In an effort to reduce the use of multi-use grocery carry-bags (which sea turtles melt down and use for poker chips), the City will eliminate the use of those bags, return to single-use plastic, and make each bag look like it came from a porn store:
Small print at the bottom of each bag reads “Avoid the shame. Bring a reusable bag.”
It is unclear what the City’s intention is, given that Phase 2, which takes effect next month, bans the use of reusable bags.
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