Hawkins calling for report on reducing single-use plastics

Single-use plastics litter the streets, end up in waterways and take decades to decompose.

That is why Coun. Bob Hawkins wants Regina City Council to direct staff to study plastic’s environmental impact and report back on possible actions the city could take to reduce the use of items like plastic bags, straws and food containers.

“These single-use plastics are a real harm to the environment. They’re messy and they fill up our landfills,” Hawkins said Monday.

A notice of motion submitted for Monday night’s meeting says the report would be presented to council in the first quarter of next year.

It also points to other cities like Montreal, which will ban the plastics in 2020, and Vancouver, which has a multi-year plan to cut down on them.

Hawkins said it is time that Regina did something and he wants to see all options on the table. They could include bans, fees, refund systems or public education.

“It’s a conversation that’s going on in cities across the continent. We certainly don’t want to be the last people to do something. We care about our environment here,” he said.

“The city has declared itself a renewable city and this is part of that kind of emphasis that we want to put on having a clean, environmentally sound city for future generations.”

He pointed out that there are good alternatives to the products, like paper straws and cloth grocery bags.

“I think we have no choice but to change the culture of consumption. We can’t go on filling up our landfills, using an item once and throwing them away,” he said.

“We can’t go on with that kind of waste. Our environment just won’t support it and it’s just not good and decent practice to be wasteful.”