The Bring It Charlottetown campaign was developed using the feedback and information we gathered from our recent single-use plastic survey in August of 2019. The purpose of this survey was to get a sense of people’s attitudes toward single-use plastics and learn more about consumption patterns of single-use plastics in Charlottetown.
There are many types of single use plastics but for the purpose of this survey, the term single-use plastic referred to a disposable plastic item that is manufactured for the purpose of being used only once, usually only for a brief period. Our survey focused on the following single use plastic items: plastic straws, plastic cutlery, plastic shopping bag, plastic or Styrofoam cups and/or lid, and plastic water bottles.
The survey also provided insights into the types of single-use plastic most regularly used by respondents (on average, 3 or more times a week): 38% use plastic drink cup lids on a regular basis, 21% use plastic straws on a regular basis, 20% use plastic water/drink bottles on a regular basis, and 23% responded as using plastic bags on a regular basis. At the time of the survey the provincial plastic bag ban had been in place for approximately a month, however, there are still plastic produce bags in grocery stores, and plastic bags are used to line garbage cans, and many individuals have a stored supply of plastic retail bags that are still being used since the ban was implemented.
The most significant barriers identified by respondents as preventing them from reducing their single-use plastic use were “forgetting their reusable items at home” (38%) and the “established norm of single-use plastics being the default in many cases” (38%).
The majority of respondents who stated “forgetting their reusable items” was the biggest barrier to reducing single-use plastics felt it would be helpful for them to have a reminder and they identified the following locations where the reminder would likely be most useful: on their fridge, at their front door, in their car, on the front door of the business, in the parking lot, or on their phone. It was this survey result that prompted us to focus on the identified barrier of forgetting to bring reusable alternatives, and to provide helpful reminders.
Check out our
'Ways to bring it' page with lots of tips to help you remember to bring it, and stop by our booth to pick up some convenient reminders that you can place in helpful locations (like on your front door or in your vehicle) to make sure you bring it!
