The City of Calgary is launching a media campaign next week to educate businesses about its Single Use Items Charter Bylaw that comes into effect Jan. 16, 2024.
Between Sept. 15 and Dec. 15, 2023, radio, print, digital and social media ads will run explaining the changes and fines associated with the bylaw. Direct letters were mailed out to businesses this week as part of the outreach campaign, prompting a Calgary pharmacy to come up with a creative solution.
“We’re asking (customers) to donate their excess reusable bags so we can repackage our items and deliver them out in reusable bags,” explained Wendy Huang, a homecare consultant with Kenron Pharmacy.
Kenron is an Alberta Aids to Daily Living vendor and provides medical supplies to people with long-term disabilities and chronic illnesses. Huang says shopping bags with handles are essential for carrying the supplies and provide discretion for more personal purchases, but the pharmacy didn’t want to make new bags for the bylaw.
“We think producing more shopping bags would just be wasteful and everybody says they have tons of reusable shopping bags at home just sitting there,” said Huang.
The program asks people to donate extra reusable bags that are then sanitized and used for customers in-store or for deliveries. Because they are donated, there is no cost for the customers who take the bags home.
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“We do have to notify (patients) that if you get your Kenron deliveries in a Walmart bag, don’t be scared, it’s still your stuff,” said Huang.
The Single Use Items Charter Bylaw says businesses can only provide shopping bags if a customer asks for one, staff asks if the customer needs a bag, or if a customer answers a prompt on an ordering platform. Businesses will also be required to charge a minimum of 15 cents for paper bags and a dollar for reusable ones. The fine for not following the bylaw is $250.
The bylaw applies to any business providing new or reusable bags, including grocery and convenience stores, retail shops, fast food, restaurants, cafes, bars and coffee shops.
Jesse Mann owns Saffron Street in First Street Market and says the bylaw is a good thing, but as a take-out restaurant, it presents unique challenges.
“A lot of our curries have to go into a plastic container, they can’t go into a sugarcane style thing, or the curry will just leak everywhere,” explained Mann. “So that’s one of the things we’re most concerned about — what we use as a vessel to serve our food.”
Mann says having a few months to prepare for the changes is helpful to find new packaging. He expects to get a lot of questions from customers in the coming weeks and has to figure out how he will pass the cost along since most alternatives to plastic are more expensive.
Despite that added cost, Mann thinks the bylaw is a good thing.
“I think we needed to change anyways,” said Mann. “The plastic stuff, we needed to get rid of it anyways so it’s more: who’s going to supply us with the other product?”
More information on the bylaw can be found on the City of Calgary website. A media campaign targeted towards consumers will run from November to January.
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