ANTIGONISH, N.S. - Council discussed, briefly, a topic dealt with during their recent joint council meeting with the Municipality of the County of Antigonish – the banning of plastic shopping bags.
It’s a topic council has dealt with during previous meetings, usually initiated by Councillor Jack MacPherson in his role as chair of the waste management committee.
“Whenever we do something that’s a change in our community, we like to do so in partnership with the county,” Boucher said.
“During the discussion it was well noted that this is the trend going across Nova Scotia. We did talk about the province not taking a stand on it and municipalities coming together to try and push the province in that direction.
“There are a few concerns … not many though. People know it’s happening elsewhere and there is a good opportunity here for Antigonish town and county to be one of the trend setters.”
Like with the intersection talk, Boucher said council would be sure to consult with businesses before pushing through with a ban.
“We really believe we have to have the input of the businesses in order to go through with it,” she said.
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Boucher was asked about MacPherson being ahead of the trend, since he has brought up the problem of less and less opportunities to recycle the plastic shopping bags.
“Councillor Jack MacPherson has been saying, for so long, we have to go to paper, go to paper, and now people are starting to listen,” she said, noting MacPherson constantly pushes for people to remember to utilize reusable bags as well.
“He was well ahead of the curve. He is a very good advocate for sustainability as far as waste is concerned.”
