Key Takeaways:
- According to data from Statistics Canada, Canadians are reducing their usage of single-use plastics by using more reusable containers like bags, water bottles, and cups instead of disposable ones.
- Plastic straw usage was highest in Manitoba, where 29% of households said they used them, and 41% of those said they used them less than four times per week.
Using fewer disposable straws and more reusable bags, water bottles, and mugs, Statistics Canada data shows that Canadians are making strides away from single-use plastics.
The most recent data came from the biennial Families and the Environment Survey conducted by Statistics Canada in 2021, which surveyed 38,000 households on issues like energy use and potentially harmful household items.
A representative for Statistics Canada told CTVNews.ca: “Data from the Households and the Environment Survey can assist indicate the progress Canadian households are making concerning lowering their usage of single-use plastics.”
Also read: High temperatures caused a part of the runway at a UK airport to “lift”
By the end of 2025, the federal govt will outlaw six popular single-use plastics. Plastic bags, cutlery, stir sticks, straws, six-pack rings, and takeaway containers are all subject to the gradual prohibition, except flexible straws for those with accessibility needs. Companies in Canada won’t be allowed to import or produce the majority of these things after this year.
STRAWS
In 2021, 20% of Canadian households reported using plastic drinking straws, a decrease from 23% in 2019. 39% of those households reported using four or more straws each week.
In Manitoba, where 29% of households reported using them, 41% of those reported using 4 or fewer per week, plastic straw usage was highest.
BAGS
97% of the households surveyed said they used their bags or containers for grocery shopping. More than half (51%) reported doing this constantly, up from 43% in 2019.
When compared to homes in Saskatchewan (39%), Ontario (41%), Alberta (41%), B.C. (44%), and Manitoba (44%), households in Newfoundland and Labrador (89%), P.E.I. (88%) and Nova Scotia (81%) were approximately twice as likely to report always using their bags as well as containers for shopping (49 percent).
BOTTLES OF WATER
Reusable water bottles are also becoming more popular among Canadians; nine out of ten homes reported using them in 2021. Of those, 85% claimed to use them regularly or always.
The percentage of homes using reusable water bottles was highest in Lethbridge, Alberta (97%) and was closely followed by Kingston, Greater Sudbury, and Thunder Bay, Ontario (95%) households.
Source: CTV News
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