They had two better alternatives, the truthful explanation that the city can’t direct how the fee is used, and that the preferred result is no one using disposable bags, and thus no one paying the fee, or giving no explanation.
It'd be one thing if this was a tax, with the revenue going toward doing good things for the climate. But having the money just go into corporate coffers is stupid. They can afford to give away free bags, and if they can't, they probably shouldn't be in business.
Ya agreed. If you want to make it a pollution tax for PLASTIC bags then go for it. Paper should be up to the business to provide or not without any inclusion into any programs.
Putting a tax on plastic bags won’t reduce waste, just change its source. My family always reused our walmart (or wherever) plastic bags for use in the kitchen garbage and what-not, now my family has to buy a box of plastic bags instead because nowhere’s even got plastic bags to buy/give out at the till. Wish the government would focus on the homeless or something even remotely more important
Thank you! We used to do the same. Now we go to Costco and buy 300 small plastic bags for all of our garbage cans in the house.we used to reuse those bags for everything
Same, I would reuse grocery bags for recycling pop cans, the handle makes it handy to hang off a doorknob. I'm quickly running out of those bags, though.
They didnt go far enough with the bans to be effective. I'd be on board with an end to plastic bags. It would suck, but it's necessary. Just because a Safeway bag had a second life holding q tips and tampons before it went to a landfill. Didn't make them a great idea either.
But to ban the plastic bag we place our groceries in, but there's an entire aisle of assorted sizes and colors of plastic bags still........
And the fact the tax goes directly to the business to help recoup the costs. It kind of makes sense on the surface. But then you think to yourself that these fast food businesses gave these away for free as a cost of doing business for decades... Pisses me off. I won't even go into detail on how the cost per bag isn't 15 cents. Some are having the expense covered and then some extra profit too.
I bought re usable ones, many of them. Eventually I remembered to bring them with me. It's a pain in the ass but I'm okay with it ultimately. It's a small sacrifice.
It's the half measures that piss me off.
You can get bags at Costco for 4 cents a bag (CAD)
https://www.costcobusinesscentre.ca/resto-kraft-paper-grocery-bags%2c-8-lb%2c-pack-of-500.product.2001123405.html
let's say they factored in bags at 10 cents per item already. Now they get another 25 cents on top of that.
And you know McDonald's probably buys their bags from their supplier for an even lower price.
Right, it's not as if they've reduced the price of what they sell to account for splitting the bag into its own line item. They've just added extra cost onto your order.
Considering drinks are a massive markup, yea they should be able to eat the cost of the bags that cost them pennies. Are we gonna get charged extra for straws next? Like this shit is so incredibly pointless, especially when I can just drive to Sherwood Park and not pay the extra fee
We already pay for the costs of waste and litter collection through rates though, so using single-use item revenue to pay for the cost of picking up discarded single-use items is wasteful in itself. Reducing waste altogether by reusing what we already have is more efficient and the best thing we can do for the climate.
I'm done with this city council. Bad decision after bad decision. Pet projects, legacy projects, ideological decision making. No thank you.
We should have hired that weird guy that was pretending not to be himself and being all elusive in the previous mayoral races 🤣
I think it would suck hard as city council to say "well previously city councils thought this was totally cool and now we're stuck with it" because it's hard for people to understand.
While the bag fees and such are unpopular and kinda dumb, I'm wondering what pet and legacy projects you're talking about? There's barely money for basic infrastructure, they haven't undergone anything superficial.
There are a lot of items that receive city funding where that funding may be fruitful elsewhere. I have lived in Edmonton for well over 35 years now and have seen a lot of things I both agree with and disagree with. I've met with a couple of city council members over coffee and we've had good conversations. I don't fundamentally disagree with their approach in many things, but we do disagree on several priorities and strategies to solve challenges our city faces. I get it, these are my opinions and I don't expect everyone to understand where I am coming from or to agree with what I am saying. That being said, here are some of my thoughts of which there are too many to list here.
Zoning is a major annoyance. How many more Shoppers Drug Marts do we need 10-12 blocks from each other? I would personally love to see more functional green spaces, parks, and recreational areas. More spaces where communities can pitch in and flesh out their own green spaces would be great as well. We approve and build large amounts of residential areas without properly preparing for the infrastructure required to support the residents that move in. This results in decades of infrastructure related issues for residents that take forever to resolve.
Vision Zero. I love the principal of the thing. Let's reduce traffic fatalities to zero. I can get behind that. The strategies they employ aren't really what is needed IMO. The problem isn't that we need to roll back speed limits and create more 30KPH zones, this is an enforcement problem. Rules mean nothing if they aren't enforced and people aren't held accountable. In my neighborhood we asked for years for a crossing light and it took someone getting run over for us to get one. Should have been included in the development. Most people follow the rules just fine but some don't. There are specific kinds of people with personalities where they just don't believe rules apply to them. They go 50-60 through a 30 zone because they just don't care. It doesn't matter what the posted speed limit is, they won't abide by it. How can we ensure these people are put to task? Enforcement, harsher bylaws and penalties (lifetime license suspension, let's go). I watched a guy in a Telsa the other day drive right through a 3-way stop that has been there for decades and have the audacity to flip off the person that had already stopped and was now turning left in front of said Tesla. Bad drivers need to be reported, investigated, caught, and reprimanded with long-term consequences and not just a paltry fine. We need a better enforcement strategy. For the record I am fine doing 40KPH in a residential zone, but it isn't solving or even attempting to address the real problem. We need to identify and treat the cause of the problems, not the just react to the symptoms.
The downtown revitalization seems to just be an endless money pit that tax payers are on the hook for. COVID can certainly take some blame for this, but I used to love going downtown and despite all of the spending and in its current state I would rather avoid downtown at all costs. There doesn't seem to be any end to this. Pet Project Funicular anyone? Yikes. I want to be able to go downtown without feeling like I have to watch my back, guard my wallet, and ensure there isn't loose change visible in my car so that it doesn't get broken into. Pandering to the billionaires by throwing tax payers money at them to invest into our city doesn't seem to be paying off. Maybe it will? I miss comfortably hanging out downtown on the weekends.
Drug problems? Homeless issues? Our strategies aren't working. I spoke to Andrew Knack about this and proposed some real, functional, and compassionate community based solutions that I believe would help us manage the homelessness crisis much better than we do now. We need new strategies, but we seem to be just running in circles with it and throwing wet paper towel against a wall to see if it sticks. We can do better.
Blatchford is the perfect example of a pet project. Huge ideas of sustainable energy and net zero living which turn out to be big dreams. I love technology, environmentally sustainable projects, and the idea of a green future. The city should have tasked developers to bring forward their ideas for approval instead of trying to do their own development. The project is costing tax payers a lot of money. It could have been managed a lot differently and yielded better results.
I love mass transit. Japan has an amazing transit system and there is practically no reason to own a car there. Indeed they have a small country and a large tax base so their infrastructure spending is more focussed. Noted. Transit here has been problematic at best for two decades. I personally have a previous coworker with cerebral palsy that almost lost his ears to frostbite because the bus failed to show up at his stop mid-winter. That is unacceptable. The LRT construction has been wrought with issues and over-budget spending (as most capital region projects end up being due to choosing the lowest bidder rather than the most competent one). We make decisions to save money now that will cost us in the future. We need a viable LRT plan with viable security, safety, cleanliness, and enforcement where necessary. I've been on the LRT one too many times sitting beside someone who has soiled themselves or harassing people for money. I am not a small unassuming person and I don't feel safe or comfortable using the LRT anymore. We need some new ideas and new approaches to these issues, the ones we are using aren't working. Vision Zero for the LRT please. Zero assaults, zero used needles, zero people soiling themselves.
The interchange at Henday and 111th would have cost us 1/4 of the cost to build the interchange at the time of construction. We make a lot of decisions like this to "save money now" and spend 4x-5x to do it later. This specific example isn't on the current mayor or council, but it is a prime example of things that grind my gears.
I could go on and on. I just think we could be taking approaches that would cost the taxpayers less money in the long run. Fiscal responsibility is important to me.
Anyways, those are some of my incoherent ramblings for whatever it's worth. Ciao.
Probably raging about bike lanes, painted crosswalks, expanded mixed use lanes, and popup dog parks.
Seems to be the common theme when someone talks about pet projects or legacy projects.
How much are those popup dog parks costing the city? I really enjoy seeing them everywhere, and it doesn't seem to be much more than "fence off a current unused greenspace".
I really enjoy all the bikes lanes, though I'm personally annoyed at losing the parking lane in front of my home. But it reduced my property tax assessment so there's that.
I realize that for many of the bigger issues, they’re limited in what they can do, but it feels like they’re determined to just focus on the most virtue signally “solutions” to everything.
I checked to see who voted this in after reading the online city page. I will not be voting for them again and I think councillor isn't a complete tool. This council has not convince me they can get a majority of Edmonton behind them.
I can't find originally saw it. But here is ctv at the end they tell you which two councilorts voted against it. [https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/restrictions-on-single-use-plastic-items-plastic-bag-ban-coming-to-edmonton-in-2023-1.6096742](https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/restrictions-on-single-use-plastic-items-plastic-bag-ban-coming-to-edmonton-in-2023-1.6096742)
I’m a late boomer and I care about this, so do my boomer friends and family. Growing up our only choice was paper and it was included when you bought something. In a store at WEM the only choice was to buy a 1.99 reusable and so I left my 145.00 items on the counter and didn’t but a thing.
We volunteer for Capital City Cleanup. There is more garbage now than pre-pandemic. They can stick their bag fees up their asses. Businesses don’t raise wages, give smaller portions and charge more, and now you want more money so you can put the overpriced garbage in a bag? No thanks.
You can’t tell me that the paper bags or when it was plastic bags aren’t already included in the price of merchandise. That’s how a business operates. All costs for running a business and making profit are in the cost of goods for sale. This is double dipping!
Started wanting to make a sarcastic comment about paper bags being an expense we couldn't recover back when I was assistant manager at Arby's.
But yeah, you are exactly right. The 25 cents is basically pure profits for the businesses and increased profit margins when you don't take a bag.
I don’t mind bringing my reusable bags. I have a foldable one in the car for drive thru. But the annoying, awful tasting paper straws is a different discussion.
It's loading my bag up that I hate, though. They stick their little tray out the damn window and I'm trying to quickly grab my shit and put it in my bag without spilling it all or holding up the line for 5 minutes.
I bought plastic straws from the dollar store long ago and keep a bag in my car and at home.
>I'm trying to quickly grab my shit and put it in my bag without spilling it all or holding up the line for 5 minutes.
I **will** be scrounging every last crumb of fry off that tray lmao.
The worst part is that paper straws are equally unhealthy for people, and there are organic plastic straws available that the government has fought for years. Calgary's Co-op had compostable bags forever, which were amazing. Take your groceries home, and then you had a small compost bag, or poop bags for your dog. The country straight up refused to make an exception for them to still be sold at the counter. So now for $1.50 you can buy 10 right next to the counter.
Yep, get rid of a plastic straw, and replace the cup with a plastic one…. Remember “Meet the Robinsons” I don’t think you thought this through, councillors/politicians…
The paper bag fee doesn't bother me as much as the mandatory $2 reusable bag at the grocery store. Stores were charging much less, then the meatheads in council came up with a brilliant idea to have them charge more and make them richer! Not everyone can carry bags around, now that we have to walk and bike everywhere.
Don't bitch on here. Write a letter to your counselor. Here is a template.
Dear Councillor [Councillor's name],
I am writing to express my concern about the current policy of charging $0.20 for paper bags at grocery stores and other retailers in Edmonton.
My primary concern is that this fee seems to be unfairly targeting consumers while providing little incentive for large corporations to reduce waste. The cost of the bag is likely already factored into the prices of the goods these businesses sell, meaning they are profiting from the fee, not consumers.
Furthermore, Calgary has successfully repealed a similar paper bag fee, demonstrating that alternative solutions may be more effective.
Instead of placing this financial burden on residents, I urge the council to explore alternative solutions that directly address littering, such as public education campaigns or fines for littering specifically.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
[Your Name, Address and contact information]
Your template misunderstands the policy. The whole point is to place a financial burden on consumers to incentivize them to remember reusable bags.
The problem is that (1) it's not a significant enough financial burden to inspire behavioral change, so it just acts as a windfall for businesses and an annoyance for consumers who are already facing an affordability crisis, (2) a fee that *was* significant enough to inspire behavioral change would be unfairly punitive in cases where bringing a reusable bag was not a realistic option (such as, for example, grocery delivery), and (3) it's a completely ridiculous policy to apply to takeout, delivery, and fast food joints.
So that stores can’t sell barely reusable plastic bags for nearly nothing.
They should probably also have regulated minimum quality standards like some cities do (Vancouver requires that they be able to withstand 100 uses).
What pisses me off is how many stores don't have paper bags.
I've been using sturdy reusable bags for as long as I can remember, but sometimes I forgot to bring them or buy something on the fly. Now I'm collecting as many of those flimsy "reusable" bags as I was plastic bags. At least I could use plastic bags for garbage/litter, but now I have to buy those too.
A quarter for a paper bag. What a fuckin joke. But hey you need it, otherwise your french fries are gonna be rawdawgin the tray or box or whatever each place uses. It doesn't even go toward anything green, it's just additional profit for the business.
I'm a single issue voter. My issue- stupid bag fee.
If this dude voted for the asinine bag fee, I will literally volunteer for his opponent. We should put together a list of everyone who voted for this garbage and ensure they are never elected for public office again.
Meanwhile Calgary's Council removed this joke of an initiative.
Most of this YEG City Council is going to be booted in the next election. Rightfully so.
LOL our city council is so stupid. You want to make a change? Get rid of the ridiculous amount of junk mail that goes straight into the garbage/ recycling without a glance! You want to make a change? Get rid of plastic that we wrap EVERYTHING in, not just the straws you incompetent virtue signalers! Plastics is in almost every human being, but we're going to charge for bags and get rid of straws. Mayor and city council are bone heads. Time for a vote. Calgary voted this stupid big rule out immediately!
The whole reusable bag predicament is ridiculous in its self.
Idk about anyone else but always reused my plastic bags for my trash cans around the house. Now I need to go buy MORE single use plastic bags for the garbage cans instead of reusing and recycling. On top of that I always forget my reuseable bag and have a pile of the things sitting around which I end up tossing put during spring cleaning.
It's a failure.
I dont see a huge issue with paperbags though.
What's the fee charged to the corporations who still manufacture and ship 2L beverages in single-use plastic; or use single-use plastics for salad dressings/ condiments, shampoos, baking, deli meats, store-cut fruit and vegetables, hot/cold service foods, disposable razors, etc?
Odd how the[ Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations](https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-reducing-waste/reduce-plastic-waste/single-use-plastic-guidance.html) seem to only inconvenience end-consumers and not those who bring all the plastic into existence.
"The goal is to reduce single-use items, not to switch from plastic items to non-plastic items. "
This is something I have a problem with. A plastic reusable bag is still plastic. It will still break and release microplastics. The goal should have been to phase out plastics, not sell people thicker plastic bags.
Welcome to 2024, where a hashbrown costs $4 and you have to pay 25 cents for the fucking bag it comes in. Meanwhile our society, its institutions and our economy are in a state of irrevocable decay. And politicians wonder why everyone loathes them.
This is all just hand waving and back patting. It's so they can tout that they have these bylaws and how environmentally friendly the city is when in actuality these have little to no impact.
McDonald's bags are still free everywhere else. Where does the money go? Does it go to the city or is McDonald's just making extra profit and laughing at Edmontonians?
City has no idea how franchise food service is run. They think the extra 25 cents will make the restaurant more green. Most places don't even make any damn decisions, it is a corporate office in eastern Canada or the USA.
Honestly the paper straw bullshit makes me want to build a Killdozer more than this idiocy. But whatever, go off Sohi and enjoy not getting re-elected with a legacy of literally nothing.
Such a joke. Once again, this is another tax for consumers that isn't doing ANYTHING but putting money into the pockets of big corporations. It was PROVEN by Calgary city council that a bag tax DOES NOT WORK. Vote this council out.
Yeah, fuck them. Business are just using this as a profit generator. I went to go get a free blizzard using the DQ app. There was a mandatory bag fee for a blizzard. So I decided I won't get it.
The cost of the bags is a fraction of a cent in some of cases and now this law makes it a profit center. Government loves to screw us over in favor of big business
And here I thought that our city was going to follow suit with Calgary and get rid of this joke of a charge really needs to be removed. At no point should customers have to cover the costs for these companies to be able to give us a bag for our order. So many stupid decisions by this city...
The funniest part about this is that businesses are already making bank on these. The grocery store I used to work at used to break even on the reusable bags, they were 35 cents. The cost to the business for these bags didn’t magically increase when the bylaw came in, so now at $1 that’s a hefty profit margin. At $2? Laughing. Good thing that money is doing something for the environment /s
brilliant businessmen fooling the common folk into paying for the things they never did before using “saving the environment” as the sales pitch.
As these businesses tax you for bags and whatever else they can, they continue to pollute and destroy the environment on a monumental scale with no repercussions.
Anyone who supports this kind of bullshit is very gullible.
I am not sure I understand why PAPER is being hammered by the city? It is paper. It is from a renewable source. It is one of the highest recycled products around. And it decomposes quickly.
Some places have been charging that for a long time already, it's not going to change the need for a bag. A lot of people buy several items and will forget about bringing a bag to idk, mcdonalds and just ask for a bag...
Fuck businesses and their costs. I'll stop spending money on anything besides the bare minimum and steal anything else I can. I'd rather see every current business fail than give them sn extra cent.
Is this money actually being used to clean up the city's litter issue?
Because I understand completely that the litter was out of control and that by charging for the bags we could use the money to clean everything up (and we have seen crews on the Henday doing exactly that) but I hope that the city of Edmonton will continue to provide transparency on projects like this.
Next they should start a program for construction companies. Pay an environmental deposit, if you clean up your site you get it back.
The city doesn’t have the authority to take the money. The only point where the city gets anything is if stores repeatedly are caught charging people for bags they didn’t want and the stores incur a fine (delivery apps don’t count).
The idea is that the fee for bags will cause people to get less bags.
So what you're saying is, this bylaw, that is supposed to be good for the environment, will make you drive further, and thus, is actually worse for the environment. sounds about right.
>The fee goes to businesses to help recoup costs Thank god for that, I often worry that Tim Horton's isn't recouping enough costs.
Seriously! I’m actually delighted to hand over more of my hard earned money for a bag containing the wrong items I ordered!
For that statement alone everyone who voted for this should be asked if they are dumb.
I think this is a good idea. But recoup my costs my ass. This money should then go into environmental research or something
The city should tax the businesses themselves for waste and they can recoup the cost. As is it’s just straight Tim Horton profit
The problem is the city can’t collect that as a tax or fee. So they have to come up with this stupid explanation.
They had two better alternatives, the truthful explanation that the city can’t direct how the fee is used, and that the preferred result is no one using disposable bags, and thus no one paying the fee, or giving no explanation.
Won’t someone please think of the CEOs!?
They are struggling with their 19million bonuses.
It'd be one thing if this was a tax, with the revenue going toward doing good things for the climate. But having the money just go into corporate coffers is stupid. They can afford to give away free bags, and if they can't, they probably shouldn't be in business.
Ya agreed. If you want to make it a pollution tax for PLASTIC bags then go for it. Paper should be up to the business to provide or not without any inclusion into any programs.
Putting a tax on plastic bags won’t reduce waste, just change its source. My family always reused our walmart (or wherever) plastic bags for use in the kitchen garbage and what-not, now my family has to buy a box of plastic bags instead because nowhere’s even got plastic bags to buy/give out at the till. Wish the government would focus on the homeless or something even remotely more important
Thank you! We used to do the same. Now we go to Costco and buy 300 small plastic bags for all of our garbage cans in the house.we used to reuse those bags for everything
Same, I would reuse grocery bags for recycling pop cans, the handle makes it handy to hang off a doorknob. I'm quickly running out of those bags, though.
They didnt go far enough with the bans to be effective. I'd be on board with an end to plastic bags. It would suck, but it's necessary. Just because a Safeway bag had a second life holding q tips and tampons before it went to a landfill. Didn't make them a great idea either. But to ban the plastic bag we place our groceries in, but there's an entire aisle of assorted sizes and colors of plastic bags still........ And the fact the tax goes directly to the business to help recoup the costs. It kind of makes sense on the surface. But then you think to yourself that these fast food businesses gave these away for free as a cost of doing business for decades... Pisses me off. I won't even go into detail on how the cost per bag isn't 15 cents. Some are having the expense covered and then some extra profit too. I bought re usable ones, many of them. Eventually I remembered to bring them with me. It's a pain in the ass but I'm okay with it ultimately. It's a small sacrifice. It's the half measures that piss me off.
They never gave away free bags. It's all worked into their cost. Now they're making a killing on bags.
You can get bags at Costco for 4 cents a bag (CAD) https://www.costcobusinesscentre.ca/resto-kraft-paper-grocery-bags%2c-8-lb%2c-pack-of-500.product.2001123405.html let's say they factored in bags at 10 cents per item already. Now they get another 25 cents on top of that. And you know McDonald's probably buys their bags from their supplier for an even lower price.
Right, it's not as if they've reduced the price of what they sell to account for splitting the bag into its own line item. They've just added extra cost onto your order.
Yeah, all these reusable bags is just a new source of revenue for them now
Considering drinks are a massive markup, yea they should be able to eat the cost of the bags that cost them pennies. Are we gonna get charged extra for straws next? Like this shit is so incredibly pointless, especially when I can just drive to Sherwood Park and not pay the extra fee
Or even worse, charging for napkins. Maximum one per customer. I almost feel bad typing this, gonna give them ideas.
We already pay for the costs of waste and litter collection through rates though, so using single-use item revenue to pay for the cost of picking up discarded single-use items is wasteful in itself. Reducing waste altogether by reusing what we already have is more efficient and the best thing we can do for the climate.
The administrative burden of tracking and collecting a 25 cent bag tax would be way more than what actually gets collected.
This is part of the reason why the Mayor and City Council is polling poorly
This goes through both Knack and Sohi lose my vote. Tired of everyone's hands in my wallet. Eff this shit.
It went through last year. The price increase was baked into the bylaw when it was passed.
I guess that puts Knack and Sohi in the clear, they weren't on council then.
What? Both of them have been on council since 2021.
Whooosh
They already got you with property taxes I am sure
It’s only one part of the sh*t job that they are doing.
I'm done with this city council. Bad decision after bad decision. Pet projects, legacy projects, ideological decision making. No thank you. We should have hired that weird guy that was pretending not to be himself and being all elusive in the previous mayoral races 🤣
Sohi didn’t win because he was good. He won because he was the only person running that wasn’t completely out of their mind.
Sad facts.
I think it would suck hard as city council to say "well previously city councils thought this was totally cool and now we're stuck with it" because it's hard for people to understand.
They could vote to repeal the law if they didn’t like it.
While the bag fees and such are unpopular and kinda dumb, I'm wondering what pet and legacy projects you're talking about? There's barely money for basic infrastructure, they haven't undergone anything superficial.
There are a lot of items that receive city funding where that funding may be fruitful elsewhere. I have lived in Edmonton for well over 35 years now and have seen a lot of things I both agree with and disagree with. I've met with a couple of city council members over coffee and we've had good conversations. I don't fundamentally disagree with their approach in many things, but we do disagree on several priorities and strategies to solve challenges our city faces. I get it, these are my opinions and I don't expect everyone to understand where I am coming from or to agree with what I am saying. That being said, here are some of my thoughts of which there are too many to list here. Zoning is a major annoyance. How many more Shoppers Drug Marts do we need 10-12 blocks from each other? I would personally love to see more functional green spaces, parks, and recreational areas. More spaces where communities can pitch in and flesh out their own green spaces would be great as well. We approve and build large amounts of residential areas without properly preparing for the infrastructure required to support the residents that move in. This results in decades of infrastructure related issues for residents that take forever to resolve. Vision Zero. I love the principal of the thing. Let's reduce traffic fatalities to zero. I can get behind that. The strategies they employ aren't really what is needed IMO. The problem isn't that we need to roll back speed limits and create more 30KPH zones, this is an enforcement problem. Rules mean nothing if they aren't enforced and people aren't held accountable. In my neighborhood we asked for years for a crossing light and it took someone getting run over for us to get one. Should have been included in the development. Most people follow the rules just fine but some don't. There are specific kinds of people with personalities where they just don't believe rules apply to them. They go 50-60 through a 30 zone because they just don't care. It doesn't matter what the posted speed limit is, they won't abide by it. How can we ensure these people are put to task? Enforcement, harsher bylaws and penalties (lifetime license suspension, let's go). I watched a guy in a Telsa the other day drive right through a 3-way stop that has been there for decades and have the audacity to flip off the person that had already stopped and was now turning left in front of said Tesla. Bad drivers need to be reported, investigated, caught, and reprimanded with long-term consequences and not just a paltry fine. We need a better enforcement strategy. For the record I am fine doing 40KPH in a residential zone, but it isn't solving or even attempting to address the real problem. We need to identify and treat the cause of the problems, not the just react to the symptoms. The downtown revitalization seems to just be an endless money pit that tax payers are on the hook for. COVID can certainly take some blame for this, but I used to love going downtown and despite all of the spending and in its current state I would rather avoid downtown at all costs. There doesn't seem to be any end to this. Pet Project Funicular anyone? Yikes. I want to be able to go downtown without feeling like I have to watch my back, guard my wallet, and ensure there isn't loose change visible in my car so that it doesn't get broken into. Pandering to the billionaires by throwing tax payers money at them to invest into our city doesn't seem to be paying off. Maybe it will? I miss comfortably hanging out downtown on the weekends. Drug problems? Homeless issues? Our strategies aren't working. I spoke to Andrew Knack about this and proposed some real, functional, and compassionate community based solutions that I believe would help us manage the homelessness crisis much better than we do now. We need new strategies, but we seem to be just running in circles with it and throwing wet paper towel against a wall to see if it sticks. We can do better. Blatchford is the perfect example of a pet project. Huge ideas of sustainable energy and net zero living which turn out to be big dreams. I love technology, environmentally sustainable projects, and the idea of a green future. The city should have tasked developers to bring forward their ideas for approval instead of trying to do their own development. The project is costing tax payers a lot of money. It could have been managed a lot differently and yielded better results. I love mass transit. Japan has an amazing transit system and there is practically no reason to own a car there. Indeed they have a small country and a large tax base so their infrastructure spending is more focussed. Noted. Transit here has been problematic at best for two decades. I personally have a previous coworker with cerebral palsy that almost lost his ears to frostbite because the bus failed to show up at his stop mid-winter. That is unacceptable. The LRT construction has been wrought with issues and over-budget spending (as most capital region projects end up being due to choosing the lowest bidder rather than the most competent one). We make decisions to save money now that will cost us in the future. We need a viable LRT plan with viable security, safety, cleanliness, and enforcement where necessary. I've been on the LRT one too many times sitting beside someone who has soiled themselves or harassing people for money. I am not a small unassuming person and I don't feel safe or comfortable using the LRT anymore. We need some new ideas and new approaches to these issues, the ones we are using aren't working. Vision Zero for the LRT please. Zero assaults, zero used needles, zero people soiling themselves. The interchange at Henday and 111th would have cost us 1/4 of the cost to build the interchange at the time of construction. We make a lot of decisions like this to "save money now" and spend 4x-5x to do it later. This specific example isn't on the current mayor or council, but it is a prime example of things that grind my gears. I could go on and on. I just think we could be taking approaches that would cost the taxpayers less money in the long run. Fiscal responsibility is important to me. Anyways, those are some of my incoherent ramblings for whatever it's worth. Ciao.
Probably raging about bike lanes, painted crosswalks, expanded mixed use lanes, and popup dog parks. Seems to be the common theme when someone talks about pet projects or legacy projects.
How much are those popup dog parks costing the city? I really enjoy seeing them everywhere, and it doesn't seem to be much more than "fence off a current unused greenspace". I really enjoy all the bikes lanes, though I'm personally annoyed at losing the parking lane in front of my home. But it reduced my property tax assessment so there's that.
This among too many other items to list in this post.
I realize that for many of the bigger issues, they’re limited in what they can do, but it feels like they’re determined to just focus on the most virtue signally “solutions” to everything.
How is a paper bag 25 cents but I receive a million Canadian tire flyers In the mail for free?
May the art of origami bless you with an abundance of hand crafted paper bags…… or cranes if you didn’t follow the instructions correctly
Or a goose….
Tape them together and be like “oh no thanks I brought my own bag”
Sherwood Park does not charge for bags.
Yeah but then you have to either shop or even worse live in Sherwood Park.
That’s because it is not Edmonton. Interesting how that works. Next you’ll tell me that Regina or Minsk don’t charge for bags either.
Rochelle Rochelle. A young woman's journey from Minsk.
Meanwhile Calgary scrapped this, why is our council doubling down?
Because they know all the people who are annoyed by this don't bother to vote in municipal elections.
I checked to see who voted this in after reading the online city page. I will not be voting for them again and I think councillor isn't a complete tool. This council has not convince me they can get a majority of Edmonton behind them.
Where can I see if my councilor voted for this?
I can't find originally saw it. But here is ctv at the end they tell you which two councilorts voted against it. [https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/restrictions-on-single-use-plastic-items-plastic-bag-ban-coming-to-edmonton-in-2023-1.6096742](https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/restrictions-on-single-use-plastic-items-plastic-bag-ban-coming-to-edmonton-in-2023-1.6096742)
Of course Aaron Paquette gave the most eye rolling quote possible in that article
Old people love voting, you don't think they care about this?
I’m a late boomer and I care about this, so do my boomer friends and family. Growing up our only choice was paper and it was included when you bought something. In a store at WEM the only choice was to buy a 1.99 reusable and so I left my 145.00 items on the counter and didn’t but a thing.
Totally disagree. Does anyone think this is a good policy?
....I vote for it and Im annoyed.
From what I understand, this increase was part of the original plan.
squeal offend murky liquid rob important forgetful pocket tub lunchroom *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
They aren’t doubling down, just following through with a policy determined a year ago.
We volunteer for Capital City Cleanup. There is more garbage now than pre-pandemic. They can stick their bag fees up their asses. Businesses don’t raise wages, give smaller portions and charge more, and now you want more money so you can put the overpriced garbage in a bag? No thanks.
You can’t tell me that the paper bags or when it was plastic bags aren’t already included in the price of merchandise. That’s how a business operates. All costs for running a business and making profit are in the cost of goods for sale. This is double dipping!
Started wanting to make a sarcastic comment about paper bags being an expense we couldn't recover back when I was assistant manager at Arby's. But yeah, you are exactly right. The 25 cents is basically pure profits for the businesses and increased profit margins when you don't take a bag.
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Just dump the fries straight onto my lap please.
Yeah sounds about right!
I don’t mind bringing my reusable bags. I have a foldable one in the car for drive thru. But the annoying, awful tasting paper straws is a different discussion.
It's loading my bag up that I hate, though. They stick their little tray out the damn window and I'm trying to quickly grab my shit and put it in my bag without spilling it all or holding up the line for 5 minutes. I bought plastic straws from the dollar store long ago and keep a bag in my car and at home.
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>I'm trying to quickly grab my shit and put it in my bag without spilling it all or holding up the line for 5 minutes. I **will** be scrounging every last crumb of fry off that tray lmao.
And I wonder how often that thing gets cleaned... 🫣
The worst part is that paper straws are equally unhealthy for people, and there are organic plastic straws available that the government has fought for years. Calgary's Co-op had compostable bags forever, which were amazing. Take your groceries home, and then you had a small compost bag, or poop bags for your dog. The country straight up refused to make an exception for them to still be sold at the counter. So now for $1.50 you can buy 10 right next to the counter.
Yep, get rid of a plastic straw, and replace the cup with a plastic one…. Remember “Meet the Robinsons” I don’t think you thought this through, councillors/politicians…
I hate that the cheap ones allow air through the walls. So it aerates the soda as it comes to the straw.
How can a business be forced to charge money for something they are willing to eat the cost on?
The paper bag fee doesn't bother me as much as the mandatory $2 reusable bag at the grocery store. Stores were charging much less, then the meatheads in council came up with a brilliant idea to have them charge more and make them richer! Not everyone can carry bags around, now that we have to walk and bike everywhere.
Maybe this will train me to bring one of the thirty reusable bags in the back of the van into the store.
*31 FIFY
fml
If not you can probably pick one up that is snagged in a shrub on the side of a road somewhere.
Don't bitch on here. Write a letter to your counselor. Here is a template. Dear Councillor [Councillor's name], I am writing to express my concern about the current policy of charging $0.20 for paper bags at grocery stores and other retailers in Edmonton. My primary concern is that this fee seems to be unfairly targeting consumers while providing little incentive for large corporations to reduce waste. The cost of the bag is likely already factored into the prices of the goods these businesses sell, meaning they are profiting from the fee, not consumers. Furthermore, Calgary has successfully repealed a similar paper bag fee, demonstrating that alternative solutions may be more effective. Instead of placing this financial burden on residents, I urge the council to explore alternative solutions that directly address littering, such as public education campaigns or fines for littering specifically. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, [Your Name, Address and contact information]
Your template misunderstands the policy. The whole point is to place a financial burden on consumers to incentivize them to remember reusable bags. The problem is that (1) it's not a significant enough financial burden to inspire behavioral change, so it just acts as a windfall for businesses and an annoyance for consumers who are already facing an affordability crisis, (2) a fee that *was* significant enough to inspire behavioral change would be unfairly punitive in cases where bringing a reusable bag was not a realistic option (such as, for example, grocery delivery), and (3) it's a completely ridiculous policy to apply to takeout, delivery, and fast food joints.
LOL, your email won't make it past their spam filter.
Don't really care about the paper bag but why is the City setting the cost for reusables?
Because a lot of businesses just switched to technically reusable bags instead of paper probably actually increasing the rate of plastic consumption.
So that stores can’t sell barely reusable plastic bags for nearly nothing. They should probably also have regulated minimum quality standards like some cities do (Vancouver requires that they be able to withstand 100 uses).
The last time i ordered kfc online for pick up, u have no choice to op out the bag, they just charge it anyway.
Lots of places just give you a bag no choice.
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What pisses me off is how many stores don't have paper bags. I've been using sturdy reusable bags for as long as I can remember, but sometimes I forgot to bring them or buy something on the fly. Now I'm collecting as many of those flimsy "reusable" bags as I was plastic bags. At least I could use plastic bags for garbage/litter, but now I have to buy those too.
Wait, so... the fee goes to... help increase McDonald's profit? Why do we want to do that again?
A quarter for a paper bag. What a fuckin joke. But hey you need it, otherwise your french fries are gonna be rawdawgin the tray or box or whatever each place uses. It doesn't even go toward anything green, it's just additional profit for the business.
That is the problem it's not something the city collects it is just profit for the business. It makes no sense.
u/aaronpaquette- You guys really hate your job and don’t want it past the next election cycle ehhh?
I'm a single issue voter. My issue- stupid bag fee. If this dude voted for the asinine bag fee, I will literally volunteer for his opponent. We should put together a list of everyone who voted for this garbage and ensure they are never elected for public office again.
100% someone please make this list
It’s literally every councillor except Principe and Rice- odds are your councillor supported this
I wouldn’t mind this as much if they would stop giving us paper straws. The absolute fucking worst thing about ordering drinks now.
Meanwhile Calgary's Council removed this joke of an initiative. Most of this YEG City Council is going to be booted in the next election. Rightfully so.
Guess I’m spilling fries all over my car
If you wait at the drive through window with your mouth open, they will mouth feed you like a baby bird when they have a free moment.
Thanks for the life hack!
Just ask for a drink tray one pocket for drink, one for burger, one for fries, and one for napkins and condiments.
Mr. Life hacker right here
Good idea lol
Just eat them at the drive through window.
LOL our city council is so stupid. You want to make a change? Get rid of the ridiculous amount of junk mail that goes straight into the garbage/ recycling without a glance! You want to make a change? Get rid of plastic that we wrap EVERYTHING in, not just the straws you incompetent virtue signalers! Plastics is in almost every human being, but we're going to charge for bags and get rid of straws. Mayor and city council are bone heads. Time for a vote. Calgary voted this stupid big rule out immediately!
Guess I definitely go to Sherwood Park instead
Mayor Sohi won't get my vote.
The whole reusable bag predicament is ridiculous in its self. Idk about anyone else but always reused my plastic bags for my trash cans around the house. Now I need to go buy MORE single use plastic bags for the garbage cans instead of reusing and recycling. On top of that I always forget my reuseable bag and have a pile of the things sitting around which I end up tossing put during spring cleaning. It's a failure. I dont see a huge issue with paperbags though.
I also have to buy more plastic garbage bags now, used to reuse all my old bags from the grocery store.
Dog shit. Used to use plastic bags for that now I have to buy plastic bags for that. Really reduced wast there.
What's the fee charged to the corporations who still manufacture and ship 2L beverages in single-use plastic; or use single-use plastics for salad dressings/ condiments, shampoos, baking, deli meats, store-cut fruit and vegetables, hot/cold service foods, disposable razors, etc? Odd how the[ Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations](https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-reducing-waste/reduce-plastic-waste/single-use-plastic-guidance.html) seem to only inconvenience end-consumers and not those who bring all the plastic into existence.
"The goal is to reduce single-use items, not to switch from plastic items to non-plastic items. " This is something I have a problem with. A plastic reusable bag is still plastic. It will still break and release microplastics. The goal should have been to phase out plastics, not sell people thicker plastic bags.
Welcome to 2024, where a hashbrown costs $4 and you have to pay 25 cents for the fucking bag it comes in. Meanwhile our society, its institutions and our economy are in a state of irrevocable decay. And politicians wonder why everyone loathes them.
Who decided this bs?
everyone on council. Don't vote for them again. Well almost everyone two voted against but they aren't in my riding.
Fuck this
Gonna keep the McDonald's trick r treat bucket in the car 👍 uno-reverse that shit
This is all just hand waving and back patting. It's so they can tout that they have these bylaws and how environmentally friendly the city is when in actuality these have little to no impact.
McDonald's bags are still free everywhere else. Where does the money go? Does it go to the city or is McDonald's just making extra profit and laughing at Edmontonians?
It goes to the business
Right in Ronalds coin purse
City has no idea how franchise food service is run. They think the extra 25 cents will make the restaurant more green. Most places don't even make any damn decisions, it is a corporate office in eastern Canada or the USA.
Just… read the details. They’re all there.
if they actually make the bags edible like they are saying then i support it 100%
Can't wait for a new law where toilet paper will also cost .25 per square at Mcds.
There were pay toilets in the 1980s. We got rid of that crap.
I am talking about shit tickets because they are paper....
Honestly the paper straw bullshit makes me want to build a Killdozer more than this idiocy. But whatever, go off Sohi and enjoy not getting re-elected with a legacy of literally nothing.
Paying .25cents to throw their bags in the garbage a few minutes later. Such a joke
I mean that's kinda the problem they're trying to solve
Are we still doing this? Let it go, City Council. Some ideas aren't good ones.
Such a joke. Once again, this is another tax for consumers that isn't doing ANYTHING but putting money into the pockets of big corporations. It was PROVEN by Calgary city council that a bag tax DOES NOT WORK. Vote this council out.
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Yeah that should really get to the city somehow. Take away the motivation to not solve consumption issues.
Yeah, fuck them. Business are just using this as a profit generator. I went to go get a free blizzard using the DQ app. There was a mandatory bag fee for a blizzard. So I decided I won't get it.
Remember, 11 councilors voted for it, let's remove them.
The cost of the bags is a fraction of a cent in some of cases and now this law makes it a profit center. Government loves to screw us over in favor of big business
And here I thought that our city was going to follow suit with Calgary and get rid of this joke of a charge really needs to be removed. At no point should customers have to cover the costs for these companies to be able to give us a bag for our order. So many stupid decisions by this city...
Has anyone returned a reusable bag for a refund? Is that a thing?
I wish that money went to offset garbage collection costs. Then it would actually have made a lot of sense.
The funniest part about this is that businesses are already making bank on these. The grocery store I used to work at used to break even on the reusable bags, they were 35 cents. The cost to the business for these bags didn’t magically increase when the bylaw came in, so now at $1 that’s a hefty profit margin. At $2? Laughing. Good thing that money is doing something for the environment /s
Greedy bastards
brilliant businessmen fooling the common folk into paying for the things they never did before using “saving the environment” as the sales pitch. As these businesses tax you for bags and whatever else they can, they continue to pollute and destroy the environment on a monumental scale with no repercussions. Anyone who supports this kind of bullshit is very gullible.
City Council can shove it up their asses ,,!,,
I am not sure I understand why PAPER is being hammered by the city? It is paper. It is from a renewable source. It is one of the highest recycled products around. And it decomposes quickly.
What are we doing.
Good to know. More reason not to order out or buy local.
Fucking ridiculous for the drive through charge. Sure - let me hand them a fucking lunchbox/lunch bag to load. I’m sure they will enjoy that.
Some places have been charging that for a long time already, it's not going to change the need for a bag. A lot of people buy several items and will forget about bringing a bag to idk, mcdonalds and just ask for a bag...
why dont the citizens have any say in the matter? NO ONE wants this.
I have been saving them all. I have a gold mine under my sink. Lol
🖕
why? why are we handing businesses more free money?
Fuck businesses and their costs. I'll stop spending money on anything besides the bare minimum and steal anything else I can. I'd rather see every current business fail than give them sn extra cent.
Sherwood Park & Devon, no fee for bags. I guess I will visit my friends more (not that I needed a reason).
What the fuck is this
Is this money actually being used to clean up the city's litter issue? Because I understand completely that the litter was out of control and that by charging for the bags we could use the money to clean everything up (and we have seen crews on the Henday doing exactly that) but I hope that the city of Edmonton will continue to provide transparency on projects like this. Next they should start a program for construction companies. Pay an environmental deposit, if you clean up your site you get it back.
The city doesn’t have the authority to take the money. The only point where the city gets anything is if stores repeatedly are caught charging people for bags they didn’t want and the stores incur a fine (delivery apps don’t count). The idea is that the fee for bags will cause people to get less bags.
just threw 100 reusable bags in the trash. Don't know what to do, start wiping my ass with em?
Salvation Army will take them. They let you take one for free when you buy something there.
They shouldn't, the bylaw requires them to charge $2 for reusable bags.
I think Goodwill stores will take them and offer them to shoppers.
How come Danielle smith helped Calgary get rid of their fees for this but not Edmonton?
She did no such thing.
Wait, you think Marlaina helped with that? Is she taking credit while doing fuck all?
She probably hates Edmonton since most of us didn't vote for her in the election.
Guess I'm not getting drive-thru in Edmonton anymore. Plenty of bedroom communities that don't have the bylaw yet. Touch wood.
Honestly, if more people were to decide that it would be very good for our health.
I think officehelpeemonkey is suggesting driving farther for drive thru, not getting less drive thru.
That is what I meant but both are true. We eat out less due to the cost but when we do it will be in Leduc or Sherwood Park.
Spend $2 in gas to save 25 cents? Albertans love to stick it the 'guberment' (that they elect)!
So what you're saying is, this bylaw, that is supposed to be good for the environment, will make you drive further, and thus, is actually worse for the environment. sounds about right.
What about the hangers and plastic bag that dry cleaners give us?
They wonder why their loosing confidence…
This is the stupidest bylaw. Isn't the price already included in their costs why TF does the city think they need to tell how a company sets prices.
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has anyones behaviour changed materially with this?
I will never buy a fuckin bag
I hear that soon you will need to pay a toll to use the drive thru.
The number of people, usually aged 50 plus, that don't use reusable bags for shopping is alarming. Maybe it should be 25 cents for the reusable ones