Written by Sarah Bennett

Originally published in Tofino Times

There are many ways we as a community, are able to help our planet and oceans heal. Some ways are a lot smaller than others but make a big impact, one of which is making the simple change to not using plastic cutlery. This small change will keep thousands of unnecessary plastics from flowing into the oceans and streams, or onto forest floors.

Currently 8 million metric tons of plastic enters our oceans annually. Plastic does not biodegrade, it photodegrades which means that every single piece of plastic ever made throughout history still exists in some shape or form. We as a community are able to lessen this environmental footprint and reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by moving away from plastic options and embracing friendly alternatives, such as bamboo cutlery, wooden cutlery, or good old fashioned reusable metal flatware.

Bioplastics have wrongfully gotten the name of being a good alternative to plastic, when in reality they will not biodegrade when put into your compost, ruining your good compost and making a chain effect of waste. Surfrider, Vancouver Island chapter, put out an interesting tool kit outlining the confusion on bioplastics and how they actually affect our ecosystems. Some information that stood out was that “bioplastic is sometimes used as a broader term that also refers to fossil fuel-based plastic that’s been combined with additives to become biodegradable. Bioplastics are not recyclable and many communities lack the specialized facilities to break them down”. This means that these plastics are forced to end up in a landfill, where the lack of sunlight and oxygen create an environment in which nothing degrades, or end up in the ocean where they could be mistaken as food by wildlife, harming or killing them.

The Cut the Cutlery campaign was launched in autumn of 2019 in the districts of Tofino and Ucluete, to support businesses transitioning away from plastic cutlery in both districts. The campaign also highlights businesses that have already made the switch off of plastic/bioplastic cutlery. Our goal is to eliminate all plastic/bioplastic take-away containers and plastic/bioplastic cutlery by the end of 2022, which would be a massive step towards becoming an Ocean Friendly Corridor.

We have been actively helping businesses in their journey to remove plastic/bioplastic cutlery by switching to alternatives such as wooden forks, spoons, and knives. In turn, new businesses that open should be given information on single-use plastic regulation bylaws, the harm single-use plastics have on our oceans, and the steps they can take to sourcing alternative products. If armed with this information, and supported while finding new tools and resources, businesses can make a big impact on future waste reduction efforts here on the Pacific Rim. 

Through our engagements and data collection, we have discovered that the majority of businesses, along with community members, are compliant with the exciting bylaws that are already in place, have shown readiness to further their action on single-use plastics, and would like to see further action. Before launching our campaign there were a total of 23 businesses in Ucluelet and 25 businesses in Tofino using plastic/bioplastic cutlery, since the campaign was launched, 22 businesses have made the switch away from plastics in both Ucluelet and Tofino. A great step in the right direction!

Cutting plastic cutlery out of our routine is one small way we are able to fight the ongoing plastics crises. This switch is easy and we already do it at home, so why not bring your at home rituals to the places we all love and cherish, why not pick up a set of bamboo cutlery? Why not take that extra step and make a change to help the world we are so lucky to call home, why not help in any way we can. This small step may not solve the entire plastics crisis, but if we all decided to Cut the Cutlery, imagine how much we could accomplish. When we as a community decide to make a change we are able to do great things.

If you are eager to see a change in our community, and would like to support this local action further, Cut the Cutlery and live like a local, bringing your own reusable cutlery on your next adventure.