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IQALUIT - The city of Iqaluit has drafted a bylaw banning the use and sale of non-recyclable plastic grocery bags.

If passed, the new regulation would restrict businesses to providing only recyclable paper bags, compostable bags and reusable multiple-use bags to customers.

While violation of the bylaw would incur a fine of $100, retailers would still be permitted to use plastic bags for packaging meat, poultry or fish, as well as for unwrapped produce and other foods without packaging.

At Arctic Ventures, steps towards finding alternatives to non-recyclable plastic bags are already underway.

According to manager John Bens, the store has ordered biodegradable plastic bags as well as 5,000 reusable bags, which they will be giving away to customers. Arctic Ventures has already given some bags away at their recent warehouse sale.

As an incentive for customers to use their reusable bags, the store will be charging 10 cents for each of the new compostable plastic bags.

"People can change their habits," said Bens, confident the reusable bag system will become second nature for Iqalummiut over time.

The April 1 deadline is his only concern with regards to the bylaw. Given the first sealift doesn't arrive until July, there won't be enough time for businesses to order eco-friendly bags and use up the plastic bags that they have, said Bens.

Down the street, preparations for the bag ban have also started at NorthMart, which plans to use paper bags as an alternative to plastic should the bylaw take effect.

Due to the additional expense of using paper, the store would charge customers 20 to 25 cents per bag, though a portion of the fee, probably 10 cents, would go back into the community for environmental initiatives.

"Paper bags are anywhere from 50 to 100 per cent more expensive to purchase and ship into the North," said Michael McMullen, executive vice-president for the North West Company, which owns NorthMart. "It's actually a substantial cost increase for us but again, you want to respect the wishes of the community that you live in, so we're going to respect the ban."

Regardless of whether or not the city follows through with the ban, the store will be distributing up to 2,000 reusable bags in Iqaluit. The North West Company has taken a similar initiative in Nunavik, where they will be handing out approximately 1,500 reusable bags to the community of Kuujjuaq.

McMullen added the company is still looking into other alternatives to plastic bags given there is some controversy as to whether paper bags are, in fact, an eco-friendly option.

"The cost of shipping paper versus plastic is huge, so what kind of carbon footprint is that?" he said. "It's a developing area of science and as a layperson you want to do the right thing. You'll take the best information possible but it's so up in the air, it's hard to say who's right and who's wrong.

"Bottom-line is we're going to work with anyone - the communities, manufacturers - if it's for the betterment of the environment."