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Letters: Banning plastic and Styrofoam can be done

If only Delta City Council had the political will, like those of other BC municipalities, to start putting the wheels in motion.
Styrofoam containers
This letter writer wants to see the City of Delta address a ban on Styrofoam containers as soon as possible.

The following letter was sent to Delta council and copied to the Optimist

Re: Plastic ban in Delta

Enclosed please find two containers- one plastic and one cardboard.

The plastic container contained butter tarts, from Safeway, a local grocery retailer.

If we want to buy baked goods from Safeway, Save-O-Foods or FreshCo, in Delta, then we also have to accept these plastic containers. We are not given a choice.

The cardboard container contained an appetizer, from Montana’s, a local restaurant chain.

If we want to take out food leftovers, from some of the other restaurants in Delta, then we may have to accept a plastic or Styrofoam container instead.  We are not given a choice.

That is one of the reasons why we choose to eat at Montana’s, as opposed to other local restaurants.

One of our family members currently works at a large grocery store chain, and a friend was previously employed at a large local restaurant supply company. The real reason why grocery chains and restaurants provide plastic and Styrofoam food containers to customers, is because plastic containers are a few pennies cheaper, than their greener alternatives.

How hard is it, really, for local businesses to switch from using plastic and Styrofoam containers, which are not compostable, to cardboard containers, which are compostable? It’s not very hard to do it at all. It could probably be accomplished, within a relatively short business cycle. The City of Delta could impose a strict deadline for banning plastic and Styrofoam. This would allow local business time to order compostable packaging from suppliers, and to deplete their current plastic and Styrofoam inventory.

So, let’s try not to continue “BSing” the general public, as to why banning plastic and Styrofoam containers can’t be done right now. Because it can. If only Delta City Council had the political will, like those of other BC municipalities, to start putting the wheels in motion. Sooner, rather than later, please.

To paraphrase a large successful American retail organization: Just Do It.

A.Cameron