(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Derek Craddock

BYO BAGS

Local retailers report no issues one week after plastic bag ban

Oct 20, 2021 | 8:00 AM

It appears people in Prince Albert have responded well to the city’s recent ban on plastic checkout bags.

On Oct. 12, the city officially banned plastic bags at all checkouts in places like grocery stores and other retailers.

Now, more than one week later, many local stores say the response has been good.

“Our teams have done an amazing job at handling the transition,” said Save-On-Foods store manager, Levon Charter. “We worked hard to keep our customers informed and sold a ton of reusable bags and totes prior to the bylaw going into effect on Oct. 12.

“The response so far has been great, and we truly have had no negative feedback.”

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Meanwhile, in an emailed statement, the Northwest Company which owns the Valu-Lots in Prince Albert said customers have been on board with the change as the store has been using reusable bags for weeks.

“Our customers adjusted to using reusable bags quickly enough that the store was actually able to stop selling plastic bags before the ban took effect.”

The same positive message is also being shared by the Lake Country Co-Op manager.

“Our customers have been very cooperative with this transition,” said executive director of Pharmacy and Customer Experience, Monique Zwak. “Both team members and customers are happy to contribute to such an impactful environmental initiative within our community.”

Local business owner Malcolm Jenkins also weighed in on the ban so far, saying employees have not run into any trouble the last week and that the move to reusable bags did not produce a “seismic shift.”

Prince Albert’s plastic bag ban was originally passed in January 2020 but faced several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Council voted to reinstate the ban this past July.

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Derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @PA_Craddock