The Canadian Public Health Association is among those applauding a ban on single-use plastics.

The association is commending the federal government for taking a bold approach to address the threat to human health posed by the proliferation of single-use plastics in the environment.

Executive director Ian Culbert says plastics pose distinct risks to human health at every stage as they contaminate and accumulate in the food chain, and require fossil fuels during the manufacturing process.

He says alternatives to plastics already exist and support for their development will provide an opportunity for economic transition and reduction of greenhouse gases.

Municipalities Already Working on Local Initiatives

Tks @LindaSwainVOCM @VOCMOpenline for reaching out to me to chat about the banning of single use plastics. We need to do this.. @MunicipalNL #banthebag #plasticblows

— Tony R Keats (@tonyrkeats) June 10, 2019

Even as the federal government considers a ban on single-use plastics, municipalities in Newfoundland and Labrador have been starting their own initiatives to cut down.

Tony Keats, president of Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador, applauds efforts to reduce the amount of plastic going into the environment on a federal level but he says municipalities are also getting on board.

He says they have made big inroads in his town, Dover, where they’ve cut the amount of garbage going to the landfill by almost half.

He credits education as students are learning in school about waste reduction, and bringing that information home to parents.