There is believed to be over 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean.

Of that mass, 269,000 tons float on the surface, with approximately four billion synthetic microfibers per square kilometres polluting the deep seas.

Sean Jacobson, Grocery Manager at Winkler Co-op says both local and national Co-op grocery stores are working to reduce their environmental impact by promoting reusable grocery bags.

"For the most part, it's just to save the environment; we don't want to keep putting those plastic bags into the environment. The second thing is they're reusable, and you can get different kinds, you can get your thin ones, or you can get your insulated ones."

*In 2018, 700,000 plastic bags were used to pack groceries in the Winkler Co-op Grocery store.

*Co-op sold 1200 fabric/reusable bags, and 1000 were given away in the parade at the Harvest Festival.

*From 2017, Winkler Co-op had zero increase in plastic bag use, even though they had an increase in sales and the number of customers.

Jacobson adds since he started at Co-op 10 years ago, they've been promoting reusable bags, giving their customers an environmental option.

"We pay our customers four cents per bag when they bring in their own reusable bags. We don't penalize our customers for using plastic bags by charging them a fee but give an incentive for customers to bring in their reusable bags. This sets us apart from the competition."