Parksville council which refused at its Feb. 20 council meeting to ban single-use plastic bags would well have waited until Feb. 26 when neighbouring Qualicum Beach adopted a bylaw that takes responsible and thoughtful first steps toward controlling single-use plastic bags.
Parksville councillors would be well advised to inform themselves by reviewing the questions and answers accompanying the Qualicum Beach bylaw, which among other things lists a number of reasonable exemptions from the bylaw.
And for those who believe that there is no problem in Parksville, because they never see plastic pollution during walks by the ocean perhaps they should review international research that shows 83 per cent of the world’s tap water contains plastic fibres.
Yes, it may be the little things you can’t see that can hurt you. And yes, think globally, act locally.
Allan Q. Shipley
Parksville