Devon, Alta. has officially banned plastic grocery bags, joining a number of other municipalities across Canada.

As of Jan. 1, 2020, stores in the community can no longer distribute single-use plastic retail bags.

Council voted in November, and let residents know by giving each house hold two reusable bags featuring two local artists.

“Single-use plastic is something that everyone uses, and it just ends up in our waste system, and it ends up not being recycled because the plastic is too thin,” Devon Mayor Ray Ralph said.

There are some exemptions, they include plastic bags used for:

• carrying fruits and/or vegetables
• containing fresh meat or fish products
• containing bulk food items (i.e. candy, nuts, grains, etc.) or bulk hardware items (i.e. screws, nuts, bolts, etc.) that are not prepackaged
• freshly prepared bakery items or other food items
• wrapping flowers or potted plants
• clothes immediately following professional laundering or dry-cleaning
• dirty, greasy, or hazardous products or materials

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