Help protect our planet on Earth Day and every day – choose reusables, avoid single-use items

In honour of Earth Day, the City of Port Moody is encouraging residents to choose reusables and avoid single-use items such as shopping bags, containers for prepared food, stir sticks, and straws. 

Each year on April 22, people around the world celebrate Earth Day, the world’s largest environmental movement. Earth Day is an opportunity to demonstrate our appreciation for the natural world and our commitment to protecting the planet. 

Metro Vancouverites dispose of almost one billion single-use items per year. That’s 440 bags, straws, utensils, cups, and containers per person. You can help protect the planet by following Metro Vancouver’s tips for reducing single-use items:

• when packing lunches, use reusable containers, pouches, and utensils;
• when ordering out from a restaurant, request that your order is put in as few containers as possible and say no to disposable utensils;
• go strawless or use a reusable straw if possible;
• bring a reusable mug and water bottle to work for your daily coffee and water breaks;
• keep reusable shopping bags in places where you will remember them, like with your keys, in your backpack, or in your car; and
• if you tend to forget to bring reusables when you go out, leave a reminder on your fridge, a sticky note by the door, or set a reminder on your phone. 

Find more tips and resources at superhabits.ca. 

The City of Port Moody is also helping to protect the planet with the adoption of a bylaw that bans the distribution of single-use plastic and foam items to reduce waste and promote responsible and sustainable environmental practices that align with our community values. 

The bylaw came into effect on April 22, 2022 and bans distribution of the following items: 

• plastic checkout bags;
• foam containers for prepared food;
• plastic stir sticks; and
• plastic drinking straws (except where required for accessibility needs). 

In addition, the bylaw states a business may provide a paper or reusable checkout bag to customers on request but must charge a minimum fee of $0.25 or $2.00 respectively. 

Some exemptions apply. The full bylaw and additional resources are available online at portmoody.ca/sui.