Plastic bags are for Earth haters

Congratulations are in order for Leaf Rapids, the first North American community to order retailers to stop giving away or selling single-use plastic bags as of today (Stores that break the law face a C$1,000 ($865) fine).

I've recycled plastic bags for as long as I can remember.

Still, re-using a Safeway bag a couple of times for lunch until it inevitably tears or gets covered in leftover grease still leaves a hundred bags or so per year in the landfill (or the recycling box at the liquor store, after which it will eventually end up in the landfill anyway).

That's about 5,000 bags over my lifetime that might get stuck in some poor bird's stomach. They take a thousand years to break down, so it's quite plausible that I might just choke a few birds with the same bag. Not a pleasant thought. Besides, these bags are made from oil, which we seem to be running out of faster than us consumeristic Westerners would like.

Since I've been on a bit of an environmental crusade of late, it's time to up the ante: no more plastic bags. From now on, it's canvas all the way, baby.