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For some, the Canada’s ban on plastics is just a return to how things used to be. For others, the switch will prove to be costly, just as prices are rising across the country

After the federal government announced a ban on certain single-use plastics, Niagara this Week spoke with a farmer, a drinks brand and a small takeout owner to see what they’ve been doing to eliminate plastic, and how the ban might affect them.

On June 20, the federal government announced that it was moving forward with a ban on certain single-use plastics, including checkout bags, cutlery, certain food service containers, ring carriers, stir sticks and certain straws.

Announcing the change, Steven Guilbeault, minister of environment and climate change, said: “By the end of the year, you won’t be able to manufacture or import these harmful plastics.

“After that, businesses will begin offering the sustainable solutions Canadians want, whether that’s paper straws or reusable bags. With these new regulations, we’re taking a historic step forward in reducing plastic pollution, and keeping our communities and the places we love clean.”

Tom Neufeld, who has farmed in Niagara for over 40 years, is “totally in favour” of the federal ban on certain single-use plastics and just sees it as a return to the way things were.

“It’s foolish for us to think ‘what are we going to do now?’ We did it for years. It’s just a return to what it was,” he said.

When Neufeld sells his produce at farmers’ markets, he uses paper bags, just as he has been doing for years.

“There’s no debate that we’ve got to stop using plastic,” he said.

He believes that the government’s ban will help encourage people to make the switch away from plastic.

“Any kind of a nudge helps,” he said. “It’s good government.”

“It’s the new way of the world,” said Britt Stanton, marketing co-ordinator at Drink Collab, a collection of small-batch alcoholic drinks brands. People are “trying to find new ways of doing their job” sustainably.

Both Nick Pappas, marketing and brand manager, and Stanton are big believers in innovative ways to be environmentally friendly and said that there is a big shift in the drinks industry to be sustainable.

“You have to be ahead of the game” when it comes to the environment, said Stanton.

For the past two years, Pappas has pushed back against plastic. When they serve drinks in disposable cups, they use a material made from corn byproducts that breaks down naturally, and they serve food on biodegradable bamboo plates.

They admit that it costs around twice as much for the environmentally friendly materials, but Pappas considers it an acceptable “sustainability cost.”

Farah Dandach-ElDika owns the Lebanese Mezzah in Smithville. She recently opened her business in May and, although she supports the spirit of the ban, she has concerns about finding good, cost-effective replacements.

She agrees with the fact that we need “a better environment and … a better Earth.” But she says the ban is “a good decision and not at the same time.”

“I have a big issue now,” she said, regarding replacing the polystyrene plates and plastic cutlery that she already uses. She is especially concerned about takeout containers, which must be made from a material that won’t fall apart when it gets moist.

She also laments the timing of the policy, when the “cost of everything now is so expensive.” She estimates that any decent replacements will be at an additional cost.

The government, she said, should subside the switch. “They have to help out as a government,” she said. “Give us support.”

But Dandach-ElDika is already thinking about ways to reduce plastic use. She’s considering an initiative to encourage people to bring in their own bags for takeout and rewarding them with a treat.

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: After the federal government announced the ban on single-use plastics, Niagara this Week set out to find out how this would affect small businesses, and to see what businesses have been doing to cut down on plastic.

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