That's Bring Your Own Bag. Starting January 1, 2009, Quebec's SAQ (Société des alcools du Québec) completely eliminated disposable bags from their check-out routine. Customers are asked to bring their own sacks as part of an environmental effort in the new year.
Back in September, SAQ started charging as much as 25 cents for disposable plastic bags. Now, they've eliminated them altogether...
The initial effort to charge for plastic bags helped use by SAQ customers use by 91%. That response led to this year's complete elimination of plastic bags. SAQ's press release on the move reads that "Eliminating single-use bags will enable the SAQ to reduce consumption by some 80 million bags a year".
We think this is a great initiative and hope to see other retailers making the same move in the near future.
Local Montreal blog Midnight Poutine, however, plays devil's advocate on SAQ's recent plastic bag ban here.
Want to make the switch yourself? To get started, here are a few reusable bags featured on AT, from Baggu, Bag the Habit, and Flip & Tumble. Find yourself up to your ears in plastic ones? Here are some ways to reuse them.
Photo: CBC News
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
How to reuse plastic bags? Get a big dog. Trust me - you'll be asking your friends to hold onto their bags for you.
view ChzPlz's profile
As a Montreal resident, I applaud the decisions of the SAQ. If you forget your bags, the SAQ stores sell reusable bags that can fit 2 bottles, 4 bottles and 6 bottles at a reasonable price. BTW the SAQ ban was well advertised in advance and the news media cover the story more than ones. This gesture creates awareness to a wasteful habit in our economy.
view At Home with kim vallee's profile
Of course you can still use a store-provided plastic bag if you buy your wine at the Depanneur. In which case, shame on you!
view Miriam's profile
ChzPlz - yes, you reuse your bags, but they still sit in landfills for eternity. I'd rather buy biodegradable pick-up bags for my dog.
The store I work at offers biodegradable bags, and many stores, especially the grocery stores, are requiring greener solutions. I recently purchased a wonderful folding shopping bag, it folds up smaller than a glasses case, perfect to shove in your purse.
view SputnikSpak's profile
uh how is this something for apartment therapy to write about?
view RalphEMole's profile
Apartment Therapy posts a lot of greener solutions to things. Plastic bags are a massive environmental issue.
The SAQ is Quebec's government-run liquor commission, the leading provider of alcohol in Quebec... and as such, it's a HUGE step in the right direction.
view SputnikSpak's profile
Sputnik - I'm with you on the biodegradable option, but the reality is that most biodegradable materials don't actually biodegrade in traditional landfill, because they end up being too compressed, not enough oxygen, few microbes, etc etc etc. If you're throwing it in the garbage, you're essentially just warehousing it in landfill. Check out The Garbage Project done by the University of Arizona for more info.
Therefore, I'm ok with re-using plastic bags instead of buying new biodegradable ones, since the end result is the same.
If my urban backyard was bigger than a postage stamp, I would set up a dog poop composter and I would use biodegradable bags when we're out for a walk. Until then, the poop goes in plastic.
view ChzPlz's profile