Manitoba Eco-Network wrote:  Garbage bags (in all sizes) will always be available to homeowners. Hopefully they will eventually be made from 100% recycled content or be biodegradable.

The issue surrounding plastic bags is the almost 300 million plastic carry-out bags that are used in Manitoba each year - 250 bags per person, of which 53% of the bags are being discarded empty (source Manitoba Conservation). If everyone reused their bags, perhaps there would be less of a need to legislate their use.

Although inconvenient, the environmental benefits of removing this polluting, resource-intensive item are worth it. To learn more about the concerns surrounding plastic bags, read this Globe and Mail article: The time has come to kill all the plastic bags and visit Californians Against Waste: The Problem with Plastic Bags.

At any rate, plastic bags will still be around for a while in Manitoba, as the proposed guidelines "establish a target to reduce the use of single use plastic bags by 50% within five years". You can learn more about the Manitoba guidelines and strategy at: http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/pollutionprevention/plastic_bags.html

Finally, whenever we talk about garbage we need to consider ways to reduce the production of waste, and it sounds like you are already doing a lot by composting and recycling. There are some other waste-reducing ideas at Living Green Living Well.

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