Sobeys stores across the country will soon stop offering plastic grocery bags.
The ban comes into place on January 31st.
Sobeys spokesperson Violet MacLeod says there will be other options customers can use.
“Hopefully they’ll remember their reusable bags. If not we will be selling our reusable bags as always, and we’ll also have some paper options for 10 cents a bag,” she said.
MacLeod says despite concerns, the new paper bags are quite durable.
“They’re fairly stiff, they do stand up on their own. They are fully recyclable, they are compostable, they come from forests that are sustainably managed, so limiting the impact of that bag as much as possible, and also we are going to be donating a portion of those proceeds to plant trees across Canada,” she said.
MacLeod says she knows it can be tricky to remember to bring reusable bags to the store. Her tip? Write a reminder at the top of your grocery list.
MacLeod says if you have a stash of plastic bags, Sobeys can help you recycle them.
“We’re looking for ways to innovate and to help Canadians across the country find ways to recycle those responsibly. We will still have our bins at store locations for customers to bring in their single-use plastic check out bags, and we will take them away and recycle them properly,” she said.
MacLeod says the decision to ban plastic bags was driven by customers, who wanted more sustainable shopping options,
“That change is going to take 225 million plastic grocery bags out of circulation annually, and a cool fact is that that’s actually enough to wrap around the Earth two times, so a big change and not insignificant,” she said.
The federal government announced it would be pursuing a ban on single-use plastics back in June, but MacLeod says Sobeys was already ahead of the curve.
“That was just good luck on our part that the federal government happened to make that announcement because we were already tracking in this way, and that’s because our customers have been asking for it,” she said.
MacLeod says the Maritimes are really advancing the plastic ban movement. P.E.I. has already implemented a province-wide ban on plastic checkout bags, and both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are following suit.
The company will also start looking at ways to make the change in other stores under the Sobeys banner like Safeway and IGA.
“We’re taking our time to roll it out so that all our customers know,” said McLeod.
IGA is already working on a pilot project where customers can bring their own reusable containers for things like buying produce, deli, bulk or hot food items.
