Moose Jaw youths calling for ban on plastic bags

A group of youths in Moose Jaw is calling on the city to ban plastic bags.

Twelve students in the Moose Jaw Youth Advisory Committee have asked city council to draft a plan to ban single-use plastic bags.

The group will be presenting evidence about environmental impacts of the litter to executive committee, where it will be assessed and put to a vote.

A smoking bylaw was passed in Moose Jaw in 2004 after a student advocacy group presented to council. The ban eventually expanded to the rest of the province.

“As far as just being on the forefront of these things, there are already communities who have begun to ban plastic bags and deal with this issue in meaningful ways,” said Rachel Butt, vice chair of the committee.

Moose Jaw Mayor Fraser Tolmie says there will be obstacles, but he admires the group’s initiative.

“The way they’ve approached this by looking at those pitfalls and showing we can do this here,” he said.

The east entrance to the city off the Trans-Canada Highway and the area by the landfill are most impacted by the plastic bag waste.

With files from CTV Regina's Josh Diaz

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  Earlier this month, Nova Scotia's environment minister granted Halifax temporary permission to dump plastic in its landfill as the city scrambled to dispose of its plastic waste when its only market -- China -- dried up.