Now you can shop till you drop and it’s in the bin.
It’s never been easier to shop your town with the availability of free reusable collapsible shopping bins to households through a Chemainus + District Chamber of Commerce shop local campaign.
Related story: Chamber of Commerce launching new shop local campaign
Local residents started receiving postcards in the mail last week. The postcards can be taken to partner locations this week to receive a bin.
Postcards can be exhanged for shopping bins in Chemainus at the Canco gas station Feb. 11-13 from 6 a.m.-10 p.m. and at the 49th Parallel Grocery Store Feb. 12-13 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; in Saltair at the Canco Supermarket Feb. 11-13 from 7 a.m.-8 p.m.; and in Crofton at Crofton Foods Feb. 12-13 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Starting on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, shopping bins will be available at the Chemainus Visitor Centre at Waterwheel Plaza weekdays from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. while supplies last.
The bins are 14.5 inches wide, 11 inches high, 10.4 inches deep and collapse completely flat for easy handling and storage.
“The bins are made of 40-50 per cent recycled content,” added Chamber president Stephanie Ballantyne.
“You can fit roughly 20 pounds worth of purchases and it’s not just for groceries. If you’re going camping, you can load everything up and it’s easy to transport. It’s also great for going to the beach.
“The real point of it is to reduce the use of plastic and our campaign is for people to think local in all aspects they need.”
Ballantyne has previous experience with similar bins from Loblaws in Ottawa, Ont. that have stood the test of time and garnered maximum use.
“I still have my original bins from 2013 and after 8-9 years of use they remain unstained and in the same condition as when I purchased them,” she noted. “Talk about durable. Estimating that we have managed to divert three bags every two days from the landfill means approximately 550 single-use plastic bags diverted for one household. We use our bins for shopping, camping, beach outings, carrying supplies to events, salads and casseroles to potlucks and barbecues.”
The bins are one segment of the Chamber’s ‘think local, go local, find it close to home’ campaign launched from a $65,000 grant through the federal government’s Strategic Activities Program, administered by the BC Chamber of Commerce for programs across the province.
The campaign involves the development of shopthetown.ca rolling out on Feb. 11 for businesses and organizations within the Chamber’s district of Chemainus, Saltair, Crofton and Thetis Island.
“That’s going to be the major on-line directory,” said Emily Weeks, the Chamber’s managing director. “It’s all being able to promote what you’re looking for close to home. We wanted to promote a platform for everyone to be visible online.”
“We think we have one resource where everything is integrated and if it’s easier for people to find it, they’re more inclined to use it,” said Ballantyne. “We want to encourage businesses more and more to go to e-commerce.”
The directory will benefit businesses and organizations during COVID recovery and even such things as the extreme weather events that have wreaked havoc on the Chemainus economy in recent years.
“It’s about business continuity whatever situation might arise,” said Ballantyne. “The directory was designed to be scalable and replicable so that we can add attractions and new features like e-commerce and provide an opportunity to share the platform with other Chambers.”
A regional events calendar and a job board to promote local opportunities and assist businesses in hiring new staff will complement the directory.
