Reducing Single-Use Items

Single-use items are products and packaging designed to be used only once before they are discarded. Examples include disposable cutlery, straws, stir sticks, shopping bags, water bottles, Styrofoam and take-out containers. These items can often be avoided or replaced with reusable alternatives.

swan swimming in polluted water

Single-use items are impacting our environment

Every year, Canadians throw away more than 3 million tonnes of plastic waste. About one-third of the plastics used in Canada are for single-use products and packaging. Some of these items are not recyclable or biodegradable and often end up as litter in the community.

Single-use items can negatively affect our natural environment. For example, animals can become tangled or trapped in packaging, and can mistakenly consume plastics - either directly or in the form of micro plastics once items break down and enter the food web.

Simple ways to reduce single-use items

The best way to reduce single-use items in our environment is to stop using them whenever possible. Here are some great ways to avoid single-use items:

Say 'no' to disposable cutlery and single-serve condiment packages when ordering take-out or delivery.
Avoid using plastic straws and stir sticks at home and in restaurants.
Shop in bulk with reusable containers and avoid purchasing items with excessive packaging.
Avoid purchasing plastics branded as ‘compostable’, they are not accepted in the recycling or organics streams and simply break down more easily into micro plastics.

Another great way to reduce single-use items is to replace them with sustainable/reusable alternatives like the ones in the categories below.

Sustainable alternatives for:

Out and About

Single-Use Item	Sustainable Alternative
Coffee cup	Reusable travel mug
Plastic water bottle	Reusable water bottle
Disposable cutlery	Say 'no' when ordering take-out and use your own cutlery
Disposable straw	Stainless steel or silicone straw
Disposable mask and gloves	Reusable cloth mask and reusable rubber/work gloves
Plastic grocery or produce bag	Mesh, cloth or other reusable grocery/produce bag

Kitchen and Home

Single-Use Item	Sustainable Alternative
Coffee pod	Brewed coffee, espresso or reusable pod
Coffee filter	Reusable coffee filter
Tea bag	Loose tea and reusable infuser
Disposable sandwich bag	Reusable silicone or fabric sandwich bag, reusable container
Parchment paper	Silicone baking mat
Plastic wrap	Beeswax wrap
Dryer sheet	Dryer ball

Bathroom and Baby

Single-Use Item	Sustainable Alternative
Disposable menstrual products	Silicone menstrual cup or reusable cloth pads
Disposable diapers	Cloth diapers
Toilet paper made of non-recycled fibres	100% recycled toilet paper
Disposable razors & toothbrushes	Reusable handle/electric option
Plastic dental floss	Bamboo/natural dental floss

Celebrations

Single-Use Item	Sustainable Alternative
Balloons	Paper decorations, flowers, cloth water balloons
Gift bags and wrap	Save and reuse gift bags or choose reusable cloth gift bags
Plastic tape	Reusable cloth ribbon or twine
Beverage bottles/cans	Soda maker
Six-pack rings	Choose alternatives without plastic rings (cardboard rings or boxes)

Business Engagement

Businesses also play a key role in reducing single-use items in the community. Because of the environmental impacts, York Region residents have expressed that reducing single-use items is a priority. In York Region's 2021 Single-Use survey, residents indicated that:

87% would like businesses to ask first before giving them a single-use item.
78% would choose to shop at stores that were actively trying to reduce single-use items.
76% would use a service that helped them locate businesses reducing their use of single-use items.

The City of Richmond Hill and York Region are working together to support businesses that want to reduce single-use items. As a first step, we surveyed over 70 businesses to better understand how single-use items are used and distributed, and what barriers businesses may have to reducing these items.

Highlights from the business survey conducted in Spring 2022 can be viewed in York Region's Single-Use Items Business Survey Summary.

How businesses can do their part

Below are some easy ways businesses including grocery stores, restaurants and retail stores can minimize their use and distribution of single-use items.

Implement a by-request approach for items like straws, cutlery and single-serve condiment packages (i.e. only provide these if a customer requests them).
Replace single-use items with reusable alternatives or items that are more sustainable (i.e. paper straws instead of plastic ones).
Offer incentives to customers that bring their own reusable items such as bags.
Advertise the steps your business is taking to reduce single-use items and encourage customers to participate.
If disposable items must be used, choose options that are accepted in the recycling program. Use the City's What Goes Where search tool or download the Recycle Coach app to find out what goes where.
Choose suppliers that use minimal and plastic-free packaging.
Display items, such as produce, loosely instead of using plastic wrap and polystyrene to bundle them.
Use reusable plates, cups and cutlery for staff meetings or choose a caterer that provides these.
Additional resources for businesses can be found on York Region's webpage.

Taking action to reduce single-use items is good for the bottom line and for our environment.

What the City of Richmond Hill is doing

The City recognizes that single-use items are harmful to the environment and strives to contribute to a more sustainable community. To lead by example, the City has implemented a corporate policy to minimize the use and reliance on single-use plastics at City events and facilities. The City is also working with York Region to support businesses and residents in reducing their use of single-use items.

Federal Regulations

In June 2022, the Government of Canada released its Single-Use Plastics Prohibition Regulations, a single-use plastics ban that will stop businesses from manufacturing, importing, selling and distributing these six types of single-use plastics:

Checkout bags
Cutlery
Foodservice ware made from hard-to-recycle plastics
Ring carriers (i.e. six-pack rings)
Stir sticks
Straws

For a more detailed explanation of all plastics banned refer to the Government of Canada’s Single-Use Plastics Prohibition Regulations – Technical Guidelines

Over the next decade, the ban will help eliminate over 1.3 million tonnes of hard-to-recycle plastic waste and more than 22,000 tonnes of plastic pollution, equivalent to over a million garbage bags full of litter.