GUNTER: Edmonton's war on napkins, plastics is ridiculous overkill

This is going to hurt small business. Some customers are going to get fed up and walk away or not go out for takeout in the first place.

Since Edmonton city council’s plastics ban came into effect on Canada Day, I’ve been to fast food drive-thrus twice. (It’s summer, don’t bug me.)

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Don't have an account? Create Account

When I ordered on my first visit, I was asked whether I wanted a paper bag for 15 cents. It took me a second to remember this was the doing of our preachy municipal leaders, not the fault of the burger chain.

The second time, I wasn’t asked. And I had forgotten that we now need to plead for permission from the environmental gods to have a simple bag for our meals. My breakfast sandwich was handed out the window on a tray. The hash browns and coffee were separate.

I didn’t want these items on the truck floor or the dash or the passenger seat, so I stuffed them in cup holders. Talk about ridiculously inconvenient. (And greasy.) If the food had been in a bag, none of this would have been a problem.

Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of Edmonton Sun Headline News will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

On neither of my fast-food forays did I remember to also beg for a paper napkin, those nature-killers city council is hysterically frightened about. The hypocrisy of the napkin ban is that on the other end, the city thinks of napkins as so benign they encourage us to dispose of them in our compostable bins at home.

What irritating deprivation will council devise next in the name of saving the planet? I’m predicting it will be plastic drink lids and the wrap around meat trays at grocery stores.

Just try driving home with an open cup of pop in one hand and a raw steak in the other.

This is going to hurt small business. Some customers are going to get fed up and walk away or not go out for takeout in the first place.

The city proselytizes that their ban on single-use plastics and Styrofoam will lead to much less trash in the landfills. Maybe. But litter will get worse because there is no bag to put wrappers and used condiment packets in.

And how come delivery services can use bags, but not drive-thrus? (Hey, wait. Did I get charged for the bag the delivery order came in and I didn’t even know it?)

I am not going to begin carrying with me bags for all occasions — groceries, medications, hardware, takeout food — plus reusable takeout containers, permanent straws and metal cutlery. The back of my truck will start to look like a caterer’s van.

To clarify, paper bags and napkins are not technically “banned,” just heavily restricted. The bags are only available for a 15-cent fee, which is rising to 25 cents next year. But because it is next to impossible to wrangle a couple of burgers and fries, or a cup of soup and a sandwich without a bag, the fee is essentially just a mandatory tax on eating out.

Restaurateurs can only include napkins and condiments if you ask for them. One ice-cream franchisee I know said his company’s interpretation of the new bylaw was that he and his staff couldn’t even ask customers if they wanted a napkin or ketchup packet. So he’d set up a sign near the till that his staff point to to remind patrons to ask for these evil items.

The sheer lunacy of this — infuriating, inconvenient, unsanitary and environmentally meaningless, all at the same time — was summed up brilliantly by Sun letter writer Glenn Krause.

“I go to the grocery store and buy a pound of deli ham in a plastic bag, bread in a plastic bag, milk in a plastic jug, napkins wrapped in plastic, store-made salad in a plastic tub, a plastic bottle of mustard and a plastic bottle of ketchup. But they won’t give me a plastic bag to carry it home, because the plastic bag is bad for the environment?”

Exactly, Glenn. Exactly.

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

To contribute to the conversation, you need to be logged in. If you are not yet registered, create your account now - it's FREE.

included