Nain votes to ban plastic bags

The community of Nain has become one of the first places in Newfoundland and Labrador to ban plastic shopping bags.

The local Inuit community government voted in favour of a ban on non-recyclable plastic bags earlier this week.

The ban is expected to go into effect on Nov. 30.

"I think it’s a great step for our community," Sarah Erickson, head of the Inuit Community Government in Nain, told CBC News on Friday. "A lot of people are already using their own bags, so this just seem the natural way to go."

The community, with a population of approximately 1,200, goes through more than 100,000 plastic shopping bags each year.

It's estimated a traditional plastic bag takes 1,000 years to dissolve.

A local grocery store has promised to provide two reusable bags for every household in Nain.  A plan is also in place to bring back paper bags.

Other communities throughout the country have either banned or are considering banning non-recyclable plastic bags. The northern Manitoba community of Leaf Rapids imposed a ban in 2007. In September 2008, Iqaluit in Nunavut proposed a ban of plastic bags.

Toronto imposed a five cent charge for plastic bags in December.