PAGE A24 • MOOSEJAWEXPRESS.COM • Wednesday, July 3, 2019
City Hall Council Notes
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Youth committee wants BioBags to replace plastic bags Jason G. Antonio - Moose Jaw Express
Single-use plastic bags are detrimental to the environment and take more than 500 years to decompose, which is why city council’s youth advisory committee wants the municipality to adopt BioBags. BioBags are a compostable alternative to plastic bags and are nearly identical in function, but break down more easily in the soil, members of the committee told city council on June 24 during the regular council meeting. BioBags are constructed of MaterBi, a resin made from plants, compostable polymers and vegetable oils. They take 45 days to decompose when in soil or sunlight. “After using a BioBag, you have two options,” explained Meagan Barclay, a student at Cornerstone Christian School. “You can put it in your compost bin, where it will break down into nutrient-rich fertilizer, or (you can)
toss it in your garbage can, where it will be taken to a landfill and break down there. “Either way, the bag leaves behind helpful soil instead of dangerous toxins.” The main manufacturer of BioBags resides in San Leandro, Calif., although the bags are also manufactured in countries such as Estonia and Thailand. Between 500 billion and one trillion plastic bags are consumed each year worldwide, which means one million are used every minute of the day, said Jordan Boulton of Central Collegiate. Only one out of every 200 plastic bags — or about five per cent — are recycled. Furthermore, the average grocery store in Canada sells 200 bags per hour, while Environment and Climate Change Canada says Canadians throw away more than
34 million plastic bags every day, Boulton continued. Most plastic bags end up in the landfill and can take centuries to decompose. The federal government has said it intends to ban single-use plastics by 2021. Municipalities that have adopted BioBags and that have had success with them include Bethal, Ala.; Norwalk, Conn.; Lynn, Mass.; Santa Fe, New Mexico; New York, N.Y.; Portland, Ore.; and San Francisco, Calif. Administration will take the youth committee’s presentation and the information within it and investigate if the committee’s suggestions are possible. The next regular council meeting is Monday, July 8.
Biodegradable, compostable and degradable important environmental concepts to know Jason G. Antonio - Moose Jaw Express A group of youths believes it is important to know the difference among the terms biodegradable, compostable and degradable, since those expressions can have an effect on the environment. Biodegradable is a term used when describing organic materials that break down in a specific environment, explained Jenna Meili, a member of the municipality’s youth advisory committee and a student at Vanier Collegiate. This term is often misused in marketing and advertising of products and materials that are not actually environmentally
friendly. “Many companies market products as biodegradable because it will break down, but they do not specify how long it will take, which could be thousands of years to fully decompose,” Meili told city council on June 24 during the regular council meeting. Compostable is the process of breaking down organic waste by microbial digestion to create compost, she continued. The main goal of composting is to recycle organic waste so it can eventually be reused. Natural products such as
BioBags are compostable. During the presentation, the youth advisory committee urged city council to ban single-use plastic bags and adopt BioBags as a suitable replacement, which would be less harmful to the environment. Degradable plastic products, Meili explained, do not fully break down. Instead, they break apart into microscopic pieces that take nearly a millennium to decompose. However, a BioBag takes three to six months to break down into organic material and causes no lasting
harm to the environment. The committee understands it would be inconvenient to eliminate plastic bags without providing a solution, he continued. Therefore, the youths’ alternative is to switch to BioBags. People are creatures of habit, so taking away plastic bags would be a difficult adjustment for some residents to make, said Ha’Keena Maneso of Vanier Collegiate. By integrating BioBags into the community, it will seem as if the plastic bags never left and the transition will be easier for everyone.
Some municipal committees could be combined, eliminated based on review results Jason G. Antonio - Moose Jaw Express
A review of the viability of all municipal boards, committees and commissions shouldn’t diminish city hall’s future communications with residents, but will likely enhance it instead, says a city councillor. “I sit on several committees and … know that we sometimes struggle to get quorum, which makes you wonder if citizens are really engaged and are really interested in the topics that are on the certain committees,” said Coun. Crystal Froese. “But also there is an overlapping purpose with some of these committees as well, so merging a couple of them (would) strengthen their purpose.” During its June 24 executive committee meeting, council voted 6-1 to have city administration engage in a
Notice of Call for Nominations
RM of Elmsthorpe No.100 Municipal By-Election PUBLIC NOTICE is hereby given that nominations of candidates for the offices of:
Councilor Division 3 will be received by the undersigned at the Municipal Office at 203 Main Street during regular business hours until 4:00pm on Wednesday the 7th day of August, 2019. Nomination forms may be obtained from the Municipal Office at 203 Main Street. Dated this 11th day of July, 2019.
Jaimie Paranuik
Returning Officer
review of every municipal board, committee and commission structure and appointment with the goal of “rationalization.” This means possibly eliminating duplication with other community groups doing similar work; eliminating any municipal bodies that may have lost a clear need; or combining committees so they function in a way that best uses resources and members’ time. Furthermore, the review would look at which committees need to retain elected member representation, as well as whether additional reporting mechanisms could strengthen the monitoring of third-party boards receiving municipal funding. The review would include addressing different means of engaging the public and
seeking feedback on topics and/or the creation of single-purpose ad hoc committees with a limited mandate. City administration is expected to provide a report of its finding to executive committee by the end of this October. Before that, municipal officials will approach all members on boards, committees or commissions whose terms expire this August and ask if they would serve until Dec. 31. The City of Moose Jaw has used committees, commissions and boards to acquire public input and advice, explained city clerk Myron Gulka-Tiechko. A review of these structures will determine if these bodies continue to meet the municipality’s needs.