'We need to be protected from ourselves': Federal plastic ban would boost anti-waste culture

The zero-waste movement has apparently gained enough momentum to reach policy-makers in Ottawa.

CBC News learned Sunday that the federal government has plans to ban single-use plastic items like straws, cutlery and bags as early as 2021.

Some B.C.municipalities like Tofino on Vancouver Island and North Vancouver'sDeep Covehave already moved to reduce plastic waste, but environmental experts point to a need for a consistent national strategy.

"Sometimes, we need to be protected from ourselves and need some legislation to help us make better decisions," said Lindsay Coulter, of the David Suzuki Foundation.

"It's often hard to be counter-culture with respect to plastics or going zero waste."

Lifestyle change

For those who've been embracing the zero-waste lifestyle for years, widespread change can't come soon enough.

"We're at a place on an environmental level where the clock is ticking, we just don't have time to wait and sit back for everyone to get on the zero-waste lifestyle wagon," said Bea Johnson, the founder of Zero Waste Home.

Johnson has been credited with starting the "zero-waste lifestyle"movement with her popular blog and subsequent book.

For Johnson's family of two parents and two teens, they've perfected it to the point of being able to fit a year's worth of household waste into a single jar.

"A lot of people tend to think you have to be a hippie to live this way," she said.

"But I've worked really hard in shattering these misconceptions."

Johnson, originally from France and now living California, was in Vancouver this weekend for a sustainability event.

Commercializing zero waste

While Johnson has embraced the zero-waste lifestyle for environmental and personal reasons, she's also turned it into a business with a flurry of international talks, a popular book, and a blog promoting the various items her family uses.

"To be able to put bread on the table, of course, you have to have some kind of a professional activity and, in my case, I found a level that works for me," she said.

Commercializing the zero-waste lifestyle doesn't detract from its core message, Johnson said, but she has a word of caution.

"A lot of social media accounts are pushing reusables and tell you you can't be zero waste if you don't have this or don't have that," she said.

It's not about buying reusable straws or trendy food containers, she said,despite those being the images that generate a following on social media.

"I would encourage people to ask themselves 'Do I really need this?" she said.

"Everyone already has the things in their home to go zero-waste."

Daniel Rotman, co-facilitator at the educational organization Master Recycler Vancouver, says encouraging sustainability is about changing the way people think about their actions.

The person who starts by bringing a reusable container becomes the kind of person to care about environmental issues.

"In conventional folk wisdom, the idea is that behaviour follows attitudes," Rotman said.

"But it's in fact the opposite we glean our attitudes from the behaviours that we do. It's about flipping thatswitch."