On August 23, 2016, the city of Montreal adopted By-law 16-051, prohibiting the distribution of certain types of shopping bags in retail stores.
The ban for merchants offering light plastic bags to consumers took effect on January 1, 2018. It applies to all establishments whose main activity is the sale of merchandise at the retail level. A grace period for compliance will be granted through June 5, 2018. Banned are: conventional plastic shopping bags (a thickness of less than 50 microns) and Oxo-degradable, oxo-fragmentable, biodegradable shopping bags, whatever their thickness.
Now let me advise you that this ban does not apply in Côte Saint-Luc. While I always have reusable bags in my trunk, be it for the grocery store or the pharmacy, I do not believe we should adopt a similar by-law. Is it fair for someone who makes an unplanned trip to a store or for a senior or an individual using public transit who does not have any reusable bags handy? Yes, I suppose you can buy a new reusable bag at a number of stores. But should we force that on anybody?
I will be the first person to urge people to bring their own bag. I have more than a dozen in my trunk and the collection keeps growing. When I went on holiday to Tampa, I made sure to pack a few reusable bags and I used them for all of my grocery store visits.
Just understand your geography. In Montreal, not covered by the by-law are plastic bags used exclusively to transport foodstuffs to the cash counter of a retail store or to protect them, for hygiene purposes, from direct contact with other items (fruits, vegetables, nuts, bulk confectionery, prepared foods, meat, fish, bread, dairy products, etc.).
Côte Saint-Luc City Council will be addressing this with some kind of policy in the not too distant future.
I will Be shopping in Cote St. luc. Visiting from Florida and driving a rental car, we rarely if ever have reusable bags in our midst. We usually shop for all of our cottage while in Cote st. Luc, visiting our children and often purchase over 20 bags each time. How would we carry everything otherwise? We appreciate your understanding and continued support of what we call “ reusable plastic”.
Will the Fireplace / Wood Burning Law also not apply to Cote Saint Luc Homes?
No Montreal bylaws apply to us. We are an independent city.
Thank you Gail Cohen!
You bring up a good point, Mr. Cohen. But, I disagree with the decision to not follow through with the plastic bag ban along with the rest of the island of Montreal. Yes, it is unfair to impose the purchase of a reusable bag when it comes to a senior citizen, a tourist, or a last minute purchase, but allowing the environmental impact of plastic to be out of sight for our city is unjust. Perhaps as a compromise, a small charge of 5 cents for the purchase of a plastic bag should the need arise. Our city was one of the first to adopt composting; we should continue our journey to being more environmentally friendly. Our lationship with plastic needs to change as a species, so starting at the micro level would benefit the city overall. Thank you.
As someone who has lived in Cote St Luc nearly my entire life, I have to say that I’m disappointed that we didn’t think of either banning plastic bags first, or come up with an even more efficient solution before everyone else did. I think family and the future generations should still be very important values for us, and I’m disappointed that we haven’t taken better care of our land for our offspring. I know that when I go, I want to say I’ve done everything I could to leave a clean planet for those who follow, and I’m ashamed at the selfishness of those who are taking the plastic bag ban in such negative light.
If it were up to me, I’d bring back reusable milk bottles and start thinking of ways to make our community strong and healthy without plastic.
Thank you
Bravo to you. We certainly agree with everyone you say but believe education works best; not forcing someone to buy a plastic bag at the counter or walk out of grocery store holding everything in their arms.
Thanks for your comments, but it was the City of Montreal and not the rest of the island. They adopt bylaws independently which we are not obliged to follow. I stand by my comments and note that I never walk in or out of a grocery store with four large bags.