The Green Club, a Lower Mainland environmental organization that promotes biodiversity and multiculturalism, is sponsoring a "No Plastic Bag Day" on B.C. Day, which is Monday, Aug. 7.

Coquitlam council recently gave its support to a resolution calling on the provincial and federal governments to tax disposable plastic shopping bags using a "plastax."

Coquitlam's resolution, aimed at reducing the number of disposable bags in landfills, followed a similar one passed by the District of North Vancouver.

According to the Green Club:

- Plastic bags take as long as 100 years to break down.

- Canadians use 55 million new plastic bags a week, which works out to about two bags per person per week.

- Worldwide, about one trillion plastic bags are consumed each year.

- Plastic film, including shopping bags, garbage bags and cling film, makes up about five per cent of Greater Vancouver's landfill waste.

In a news release, the club urged residents to use fewer plastic bags, in order to reduce landfill waste.

The club is also urging businesses to join No Plastic Bag Day, and says cutting back on the number of bags handed out could help merchants save money.

The club is suggesting that merchants train staff to use fewer bags when bagging goods and merchandise, give incentives to shoppers who carry their own bags through refunds or loyalty points and charge shoppers for bags.

The club, founded in 1994, is a non-profit organization aimed at environmentally concerned Taiwanese- and Chinese-Canadians.

Organizers says it is dedicated to promoting cross-cultural understanding "of the unique ecosystems and cultures among Taiwan, Asia and Canada, and to educate the public about the importance of conservation and biodiversity."

For more information, visit www.greenclub.bc.ca.

published on 08/04/2006