By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean (by weight). Produce in grocery stores is most commonly packaged in single-use plastic or placed in single-use produce bags for the consumer's immediate transportation convenience. This plastic, often thrown away shortly after purchase, ends up in our oceans and landfills taking over 500 years to degrade and turning into microplastics that absorb toxins and continue to pollute our environment.

1 billion single-use plastic bags are handed out in Canada each year. 8 million metric tonnes of plastic enters our oceans annually. Single-use plastic produce bags are detrimental to our oceans as marine life which eat jellyfish often mistake the look of the clear plastic bag to a jellyfish. 

Solution

We are asking for the Municipality of Mississauga to ban single-use plastic produce bags and provide alternatives such as biodegradable, reusable, or paper bags. We are also asking for grocery stores to avoid selling packaged produce like berries in single-use plastic and to opt for biodegradable alternatives.

Although plastic grocery bags are no longer free, plastic produce bags are easily accessible and most often unnecessary to bag your produce in. We ask consumers to switch to reusable produce bags or to bring your own containers while this change is in process.

For these reasons and many others, I, the undersigned, am in support of a bylaw to effectively ban the use of single-use plastic produce bags in Mississauga, ON.