The Kamloops Farmers Market is going plastic bag free starting this year.

The move comes ahead of a debate at city council next week over whether to ban single-use plastic bags, cutlery, and straws.

Market Manager Greg Unger says they decided at a board meeting last year to get rid of plastic bags in 2019.

“We have kind of always prided ourselves of being at the forefront of sustainability and care for the environment,” he said. “We figured that as responsible citizens of this earth and this planet, that it was time we moved away from the use of plastic bags at our market.”

He adds the farmers’ market wants to a leader on this issue.

“If a customer shows up with plastic bag that they are wanting to reuse, we’re not banning that,” noted Unger. “Vendors will fill them.”

“But you can also buy beautiful cloth bags at the info booth or any number of vendors at the market have their own logoed bags for sale as well.”

And as for next Tuesday’s debate at Kamloops City Council, Unger says he’ll be following along.

“It’s an important thing to do for environmental reasons,” he said. “I think it’s really good that the city of Kamloops is considering this because it’s an important thing for our future.”

“We stand by our move to go bag free and we are very excited to partner with the city in making Kamloops plastic bag free.”