Winnipeg, Manitoba – Winnipeg Harvest and Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba are proud to announce the launch of the Bag it Forward – Plastic Bag Recycling Program. During the next few weeks, 350 plastic bag recycling bins will be deployed to Winnipeg Harvest and their partners.

Every year, Winnipeg Harvest goes through approximately 1 million plastic bags. In response to that, Bag it Forward was created to give Manitobans more options on how they can reduce, reuse and recycle the plastic bags already in their homes. This program will encourage consumers all over Manitoba to drop off their gently used plastic bags at Winnipeg Harvest or at their local food bank so they can be reused to create food kits.

Winnipeg Harvest reclaims food and people. Plastic bags are essential for food distribution to the more than 60,000 Manitobans they feed monthly. This morning’s launch addressed how you can make a difference to both hungry people and to the environment.

“At Winnipeg Harvest, we understand how important it is to reclaim what often gets overlooked, left behind, or discarded. We reclaim food and people. In order to get food to people, we reclaim plastic bags—more than one million per year – to pack food kits,” said Winnipeg Harvest Executive Director David Northcott.

“The Bag it Forward campaign is essential to what we do. We welcome MMSM in recognizing our work in reclaiming food and people and committing to the Bag it Forward – Plastic Bag Recycling Program. We all benefit.”

Karen Melnychuk, Executive Director, Multi-Material Stewardship Manitoba said, “MMSM and its members have been working diligently to reduce the number of plastic bags distributed in our province. This new partnership provides Manitoba residents with another convenient method to properly dispose of plastic bags by reusing them through the Bag it Forward Program”.

“Manitoba set a goal of reducing the use of single-use carry out plastic bags by 50 per cent and we’re very close to meeting that target,” said Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh. “We’re also working on cutting our solid waste in half by 2020 and projects like this will help us achieve those goals.”

For further information on this partnership, visit www.stewardshipmanitoba.org or www.winnipegharvest.org

About MMSM:

MMSM is an industry-funded, non-profit organization that funds and operates province-wide residential recycling programs for packaging and printed paper, in accordance with the Packaging and Printed Paper Stewardship Regulation. Its goal is to promote the reduction, reuse and recycling of the materials managed in its program while increasing recovery rates.

About Winnipeg Harvest:

Winnipeg Harvest is a community-based, not for profit, food distribution and training centre. Our vision is a community that no longer requires the services of a food bank. Our mission is to share food with hungry families; facilitate training and learning opportunities for our clients and to focus attention on hunger within our community and move towards long-term solutions.

Click here to find a list of drop-off locations to have your plastic bags recycled or reused.

 

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