Huge majority of people in BC back single-use plastics ban: survey

The vast majority of people living in British Columbia would like to see single-use plastics banned, a new survey suggests.

An Insights West poll found that 81% of people in the province back a ban similar to the one proposed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in June.

He called for the banning of single-use plastics by 2021.

The survey found that:

• 83% of 18-34-year-olds want the ban
• 77% of 35-54-year-olds want the ban
• 83% of people aged 55 and over want the ban
• 87% of women want the ban
• 74% of men want the ban

The study also found that 88% of people in the province are concerned about single-use plastics.

In terms of actions already being taken by people in BC, the research found that:

• 71% of people in BC bring their own bags to stores to avoid using plastic bags
• 68% use a reusable water bottle in place of a plastic bottle
• 56% use a reusable coffee mug in place of a disposable one
• 50% use reusable bowl covers/wraps instead of plastic alternatives
• 25% use a reusable straw in place of using a plastic straw
• 23% consciously make choices about what they buy or don’t buy based on how much plastic is in it
• 19% bring their own reusable containers to a store

“It’s not often that we get nearly universal consensus on any public initiative that any level of government proposes, but the proposed federal plastics ban is one exception,” said Steve Mossop, president of Insights West.

“In the past couple years, global warming has topped the public’s agenda and a whole host of personal environmental initiatives have followed suit, with the reduction of plastics being at the top of the list. Despite this, our poll shows that we still have a long way to go when it comes to changing our own environmental behaviours and actions.”

The survey was based on a representative sample of 1,670 British Columbian adults who were questioned as part of an online study.