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To: Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate

Ban plastic water bottles!

Photo by Jonathan Chng on Unsplash
Dear Mr. Guilbeault,
Plastic water bottles are supposedly recyclable. In fact, less than 9% of them actually get recycled, the remainder clog our landfills, take centuries to break down and frequently wind up in the ocean where they are eaten by some marine creature to its detriment.
I propose that Canada bans the plastic water bottle and requires that water sold by the case or singly be packaged in recyclable aluminum or reusable glass and that the deposit on all drink containers - water, beer, soda, cold coffee beverages, everything sold as a single serving, carry a $1 deposit. It has been 10 cents for decades and that is no longer enough to motivate people not to toss them out the car window.

Why is this important?

If people are motivated to keep that drink container in order to get their dollar back, perhaps they will refrain from tossing their other garbage, mostly fast food wrappers and cardboard coffee cups, out the window at will. Large fines for littering, rigorously enforced, with community service cleaning up communities and ditches might also help.

Updates

2024-04-13 07:35:36 -0400

10 signatures reached