The City of Vancouver has invited the public to provide their input on a possible ban on plastic bags with the help of an online survey.

Residents of Vancouver, along with businesses and non-profit institutions, are being invited to share their perspectives via this online survey about whether the City should ban plastic bags, or charge fees on paper and reusable bags, similar to the City of Victoria.

The online survey is available in both English and simplified Chinese, and will run from July 8 to 30, 2019.

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The survey is one of the results of the Single-Use Item Reduction Strategy, a motion approved by the council in June 2018. It was passed after consulting with over 8,000 residents and businesses to create a made-in-Vancouver approach to reduce the impact and usage of non-biodegradable, disposable bags, utensils, and containers.

Vancouver sees around two million plastic shopping bags being disposed as garbage every week, out of which 3% end up as shore litter, while another 2% end up as litter on streets and public spaces.

Plastic can take anywhere from 10 to 10,000 years to decompose, and even then it only breaks down into smaller plastic pieces, causing micro-plastic pollution.

The grave impact plastic bags have on the environment is why the Single-Use Item Reduction Strategy and survey is committed to providing the City of Vancouver with affordable, accessible and most importantly, environmentally friendly disposable alternatives.