Grocery bags!
So this has come up in a couple of threads before, I realize, but I'm wondering what the stores you all frequent do about the plastic bag issue, if anything. This comes on the tails of plastic grocery bags being made illegal in San Francisco, of course, though they're already illegal in other places in my internet sources are correct: Paris, Taiwan, South Africa, ?. The US alone produces 100 billion of them every year, and less than three percent get recycled. Many stores, like IKEA, have adopted incentive programs to get people to bring their own bags to the market.
SO, my question is this: If the stores you frequent have some kind of incentive program, what is it?
I know, for example, that Trader Joe's and lots of coops credit you five cents for every bag/container you reuse, and that other stores actually charge you for taking bags (like IKEA), and then either keep or donate that money to environmental and conservationist groups.
Thanks everyone!
there are some long threads about this from a few months back with a lot of good info ;)
Thanks jenniferhughes. I remember the threads about what WE do, but I'm wondering what the stores themselves do.
The store I frequently shop at (Sunflower Market) does a 5 cent refund per bag. Trader Joes never did anything until our last visit (yesterday)---they entered us in a drawing for a $10 gift certificate and told us a new drawing is going to be held weekly.
Something that I found quite interesting is that I was in Albertson's a couple of months ago and they had a huge sign in front of the registers about the benefits of reusable bags, offered 5 cent discount per reusable bag, and sold some at 10/$10. I thought that was great and unsual for a conventional grocery store here.
Elizabeth
I am in South Africa right now, and if plastic bags are illegal here, no one has told the grocery stores!
They do charge for each bag at our grocery here. I think it's 21cents. With a Rand being worth 15cents American or so, 21cents South African is worth, what, 3cents American?
The HFSs I shop at don't have any incentives or recycling program. My parents shop at Raley's - a smaller grocery store chain. They have a barrel where you can bring shopping bags to recycle. I always thought it was strange a regular store would have that and it's not standard at health food stores.
Over here in Spain in the less expensive stores plastic bags are the equivalent of 5c US apiece. You do see some people bringing reused ones. But the more expensive supermarkets, and all other stores, still have plastic bags because of the logo thing. They *say* they're going to ban them but if it works like the smoking ban did here, forget it.
I am going to make those jeans bags and try to convince my husband to use them by appealing to his cheap side.
Thanks so much everyone! This is exactly the kind of information I'm looking for. Keep it coming! baypuppy: I'm totally going to have to check out your coop. Is it...Honest Weight?
in copenhagen, and probably all of denmark, you had to buy plastic bags. i have a feeling they were pretty expensive because i rarely saw people buy plastic bags, everyone brought their own including me, which is why i have no idea what they cost. and since walking and biking was so common, most people just bought a few items at a time, not even needing a bag really.
i really need to move to denmark, that place is heaven.
At Gelson's they have a big, visible bin to recycle plastic bags.
At Trader Joe's, if you bring in your own reusable bag, they give you a ticket and you are entered into a monthly drawing for a Trader Joe's gift certificate.
Some City's and/or their Farmers Markets are going the route of a plastic bags ban. In Fairfax, the farmer's handed out non-plastic bags.
At Wild Oats, they used to give you a wooden nickel if you used your own bag. After you make your purchase, you can drop the wooden nickel in one of the non-profit "banks," either the local animal shelter, public library, and I think a homeless shelter, and Wild Oats would donate to that organization based on the number of wooden nickels. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Wild Oats eliminated that wooden nickel program.
my TJ's does the gift certificate raffle ticket thing, but i'm not sure about the local health food store that i go to sometimes.
if anything the people behind you in line will smile at you, silently saying "we're in this together". yeah, i live in a dirty hippie town and i love it
My grocery store choices are HyVee and Cashwise. HyVee has nice, heavy duty cardboard crates that I bought and use every time I shop. You are supposed to get 10 cents off every time you use one, but no one ever does it unless I remind them. Also, although I prefer to pack the crate myself and do so whenever I have the chance, when there are baggers packing for me, I usually have to tell them just to put stuff straight in the crate or they try to bag it with plastic bags first!
I guess we're a little slow up here.
"My" Whole Foods gives a nickel for each bag you bring in. They do provide paper and plastic for those who don't bring their own bags; and they sell paper-cloth reusable bags, too.
... I usually have to tell them just to put stuff straight in the crate or they try to bag it with plastic bags first!
Yep, even at WF, they will try to put some things in paper or plastic before putting them in our cloth bags. ::) It's usually wet/messy stuff, still... Cloth bags don't break and you can wash them. It's irritatingly amusing that they would think we would want another bag when we obviously bring our own so we WON'T have to use paper or plastic.
No one around here gives us any incentive to use our own bags except for Aldis, where it's buy a bag or bring your own.
I've seen at just about every grocery store and walmart in the area however a bin for bag recycling.
baypuppy: I'm totally going to have to check out your coop. Is it...Honest Weight?
yes indeed, my "i don't have a profile so i can't spy on you but you spied on me" friend! ;) you mean to tell me there are other vegans in my hood!?!?
Yeah, I'm not a super sleuth or anything. ::) I don't have a profile because I've been to lazy to create one. I just remember you saying you live in upstate NY and guessed right. There aren't THAT many coops in New York. I'm in Buffalo, which is *kind of* your neck of the woods. Your coop sounds amazingly cool from everything I hear.
Well...actually, I'm sad that stores have to offer incentives for people to do the right thing.
That being said, however, I think it would be more of an incentive if people had to PAY to use store paper and plastic rather than getting back a nickel for bringing their own. There are a few places that do that, but not one where I personally have shopped. I just don't think someone who doesn't bring their own bags is going to be inspired to bring their own if someone else gets 50 cents off their $150 worth of groceries. For that matter, I really don't even think they would be inspired to do so if they had to pay 50 cents extra for their $150 worth; and if the store charged more (I'd like to see 'em charge $1 per bag) it might discourage them from shopping at that store.
I'm not sure how to make people care...
I am SOOO with you on that bookmama. I'm working up a proposal for my coop, which is why I'm asking. I'm kind of also dismayed that the best most place seem to be able to do is give a nickel back. I worry that people won't pay attention until it hits them where it hurts, and we all know where that is, right? I wonder if you could charge people for bags and then donate the money to some feel-good environmental cause, like IKEA does. Would the irritation at having to pay for plastic bags be overcome by the ambiguous feeling of having contributed something positive? I wonder...
I am SOOO with you on that bookmama. I'm working up a proposal for my coop, which is why I'm asking. I'm kind of also dismayed that the best most place seem to be able to do is give a nickel back. I worry that people won't pay attention until it hits them where it hurts, and we all know where that is, right? I wonder if you could charge people for bags and then donate the money to some feel-good environmental cause, like IKEA does. Would the irritation at having to pay for plastic bags be overcome by the ambiguous feeling of having contributed something positive? I wonder...
im thinking that if someone goes shopping at a co op, theyre probably interested in being environmentally conscious. having to buy plastic bags would help those people to remember to bring their own bags. thats usually my problem. i forget. not having free plastic bags kind of goes with the whole organic/vegan/environmentally friendly environment co ops have. i think its awesome that youre working on a proposal for that! i never even thought of doing something like that. i always just complain. haha. i have to remember: do something, dont just complain.
My Krogers does NOTHING >:( I always bring my own bags.
I just wanted to post this site again.....
http://www.1bagatatime.com/