Walmart ends the use of plastic bags, more retailers expected to follow
It is Earth Day, and it’s also the first day that the world’s largest retailer has ended the use of plastic bags in their stores in Canada.
From now on when you shop at Walmart, you have to bring your own bag or buy one of the store's reusable ones, with more retailers expected to follow suit.
The switch on Friday meant Shyleen Campbell’s weekly shopping trip to Walmart in Kingston, Ont. came with a bit of a shock.
"When I went in today I definitely didn’t know I would be using those bags," Campbell explains. "I feel like it’s a good idea, but also it’s also a little bit of a pain."
Walmart is the latest grocery store chain in the country to get rid of single-use plastic bags.
The company says making the change will help prevent more than half a billion single-use plastic bags from entering circulation each year.
"It’s better in general for the planet, so I’m just going to have to bring my bags next time," says Julia Merrell.
Plastic bags have already been removed from stores like Sobeys, Costco, and Farm Boy.
But you can still get them at places like Metro, Loblaws and No Frills.
The federal government has announced a plan to end the use of single-use plastics across the country by the end of the year.
That has Loblaws shopper Marlene Reaney bracing for the ban.
"I am going to miss them," she says. "But it’s something that we knew was going to come, it has been coming for a long time. (It’s) something we have to accept."
Kate Wilson, shopping at Walmart says that plastic bags can be useful.
"You do use them for recycled bags for things, shoes and stuff for kids. So they are reusable," she explains.
She came prepared for her shopping trip, but says they should be an option.
"So if you want to pay for them, then you can pay for them,” she says. “But for them to be completely out? That’s odd."
As more retailers follow suit, forgetting a reusable bag, means spending extra dollars on a new one.
"Definitely made me think more about how many bags I was going to use rather than just grabbing a plastic bag and go, go, go,” says Campbell.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.