Whole Foods Ditches Plastic Bags
Whole Foods is phasing out plastic bags in all of their stores – US, Canada and the UK. It’s not just a quick phase-out, either. They want to be plastic bag-free by Earth Day, April 22 (hey – isn’t it Earth Day everyday?). This comes on the heels of decisions like China’s “free” plastic bag ban and last years San Francisco citywide ban. Ikea also started charging $0.05 per plastic bag last year as well. New York City recently announced that they are forcing stores to take back their plastic bags for recycling – and the store has to figure out how to get them recycled.
Its great that a “major” chain grocery store is taking this initiative and it only makes sense that it’s Whole Foods. Although, I can’t say that Trader Joe’s ever had plastic bags that I can remember. Whole Foods will still offer paper bags for free – but they are made from 100% recycled paper. Kudos to WF. They did do some consumer testing by eliminating plastic bags in several markets and saw positive customer response. They also give you $0.10 off for each reusable bag you use.
Now – if only Wal-Mart would either ban or start charging for plastic bags. Baby steps. They recently had each employee sign a Personal Sustainability Promise. I guess that they’re starting with educating their employees first. I’ll accept that. A company like Wal-Mart who’s demographic certainly is not always thinking green, can make a huge impact. If they charged for plastic bags and sold reusable bags, people would still shop there for their deep discounts. While I don’t really like Wal-Mart, they are trying.
Source: CNN Money via tip from Steve
Thank you Whole Foods! Small ripples can grow into big waves, or whatever the saying is! Hopefully more supermarket chains will get on the bandwagon, too. There are a lot of reusable bag options out there, and for those interested in a more personal look, there are stylish reusable grocery totes at http://www.minusbags.com. They are stylish, colorful and made in the US, which is even better.
One can only hope that Whole Foods now shifts to take a look at their buying practices and source foods more locally. But I won’t hold my breath. At least they made this huge step. Kudos to them!
While Trader Joes may not be using plastic bags at their checkout stations, I find their produce section very plastic-intensive and overly packaged. I do some of my shopping at TJs, but tend to buy most of our produce where they have a broader selection of local goods and where I can skip on the plastic packaging.