Recently, a cashier at an Extra Foods grocery store told this reporter that customers will be paying 5 cents per plastic bag on April 1.  A query was sent into Westfair Foods but there has not been a reply yet as to the extent of this initiative.  Now this is not necessarily a surprise because we had been given directions from Westfair Foods that they had an interest in reducing the number of bags used.  When that announcement came out, they also began to sell cloth bags in their stores.

Will this change the behavior of the Regina customer?  If this change is across Regina and in every store, including the Superstore locations, then it will likely have some impacts.  At the same time as the cashier told me the news, a customer before me took probably 20 bags.  Now if they have to then pay $1.00 on that same food bill, it should be somewhat more influential.

Now, those that have not reduced their plastic bag use even with the announcement or the ongoing need to reduce waste, they are likely not going to change, especially those that don't see a $1.00 inducing them to change.  But, for those that are looking at pinching pennies, they will likely start to work on reducing their by either purchasing cloth bags if they haven't any at this point.  They may also bring along past used plastic bags as a way to substitute purchasing new ones.  Those that are currently using cloth bags will feel that they are  ahead of the game and maybe they will do even more to protect the environment or reduce their carbon footprint.  What this will not do, unfortunately, is reduce the cost of food sold to us.

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