LIGHTED BUSH TRAILS TOWN CENTRE

AN AVERAGE FAMILY OF FOUR PEOPLE USES ABOUT 1500 BAGS A YEAR. THE AVERAGE FAMILY ACCUMILATES 60 BAGS WITH ONLY FOUR TRIPS TO THE GROCERY STORE. MORE THAN ONE MILLION SEA BIRDS AND 100,000 SEA MAMMALS DIE EACH YEAR AFTER INGESTING OR BECOMING INTANGLED IN PLASTIC DEBRIS. PLASTIC BAGS DON’T BIODEGRADE. THEY PHOTODEGRADE. THEY BREAK DOWN INTO SMALLER TOXIC BITS AND PIECES. THESE CONTAMIATE SOIL AND WATERWAYS. THE UNITED STATES GOES THROUGH 100 BILLION BAGS EACH YEAR. AN ESTIMATED 12 MILLION BARRELS OF OIL ARE REQUIRED TO MAKE THAT MANY PLASTIC BAGS.

The initiative resulted in a significant savings for Leaf Rapids. The cost of cleaning up the community and the landfill site has been reduced by thousands of dollars. The elimination of single-use plastic shopping bags dramatically reduced the non-biodegradable footprint the town is leaving on the environment. Finally, the initiative propelled Leaf Rapids to the front and centre of the public’s attention. I appeared on television programs and radio talk shows all across Canada. This summer, Leaf Rapids had more visitors than ever before. The town is now nicknamed the “green community”. People from all over the world are applauding the courage and farsightedness of the town’s leadership.

1. Leaf Rapids By-Law 462 was introduced as a landfill, anti-litter initiative to address a bear problem. The bears were pilfering the town’s open-pit dump. Untrue. It was introduced to reduce the number of unsightly bags around our town, streets, trees, rivers and to reduce the cost of cleanup. 2. Leaf Rapids is not a plastic free zone following the ban. True. But we had to start somewhere. We decided to scratch the tip of the iceberg by eliminating a plastic bag that is used for an average of 15 minutes before being thrown away. 3. The 5000 donated reusable bags are not recyclable. Untrue. The donated bags are 100% recyclable.