The City of Salmon Arm is aiming to ban plastic bags.

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Lake Country is the latest municipality to consider a plastic bag ban.

Salmon Arm is currently moving forward with a ban, as is the North Okanagan. The Regional District of the Central Okanagan has also discussed banning single-use plastics.

Lake Country Coun. Penny Gambell asked council to consider a request made by Youth Coun. Leonie Steigenberger to ban plastic bags during a regular meeting Jan. 7, as other B.C. municipalities are implementing bylaws that ban plastic, according to the meeting minutes.

However, Mayor James Baker said a plastic bag ban in the district is unlikely due to the Court of Appeal for British Columbia’s decision to strike down a plastic bag ban in Greater Victoria. The municipality is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to appeal the decision.

"We’re waiting to see, a number of other municipalities have introduced a banning bylaw and we’re going to wait and see how it plays out,” he said.

Baker said there may be unintended consequences of banning plastic, and more research is needed to determine if it’s a viable option to offset carbon emissions.

“We support the (provincial) carbon tax and the money that goes towards funds for sustainability,” he said.

While Okanagan cities and towns struggle what to do with plastic bags, the City of Vancouver is nearly two weeks into its ban on foam take-out containers.

The city is implemented a ban on many single-use foam products on Jan. 1, as a part of its larger plan to phase out single-use item waste.

The ban applies to all white and coloured polystyrene foam cups and foam take-out containers used to serve prepared food or beverages.
 
The city launched a toolkit for businesses in November, 2019 to help them prepare for the transition to reusable, recyclable or compostable alternatives.

 

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