What Can We Learn From Our Neighbors

We have family living in New Brunswick, on the east coast of Canada.  We drove there for a visit late in October 2024 and while we visited we learned a few things about how they handle their recycling.

When we were staying at a rental house, there were instructions about garbage and recycling.  Organic garbage (food items) were to be placed in a green bag, recyclable items (plastics, paper, and cardboard) went into another container (blue, I think), and other garbage went into the third, container.  They must compost the organic items, recycle whatever they can, and only the remainder goes into their landfills.  This seems a very logical and planet-friendly way to handle it.

On the way home, we stopped at a Walmart for a few items and discovered that they had a rule in Canada that stores can’t use plastic bags for purchases any longer.  Instead, what they gave us was a reusable fiber bag with the store’s name on it.  The checker explained that it was a new regulation there.  We thought it was a very good idea that must be preventing millions of plastic bags from getting into the environment. I have often wondered how many plastic bags a store like Walmart goes through in just a week, especially when they only put a few items in each one at the checkouts.

My normal routine here is to take my reusable bags to the stores and pack them myself by going through the self-checkout stations.  I’ve done this for years at grocery stores, but never used to think about re-using bags in other types of stores until more recently.  Unfortunately, I sometimes forget to take my bags into a store and end up having to use their plastic bags

When I looked it up online, I discovered that Canada has made a commitment to recycle at least 50% of their plastic packaging by 2030, and to recover 100% of all plastics by 2040.  In other words, they are committed to no plastics entering the environment by 2040.

I think we can learn something from our neighbors.

Sandy McKitrick

Climate Care Team