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Apr-22-2008It's Earth Day - Whole Foods dumps plastic bags(topic overview)
CONTENTS:
- The Earth Day bag-sacking means New Yorkers will wave goodbye to 3.6 million plastic bags a year, says Jenn McDonnell, Whole Foods' regional green mission specialist. (More...)
- SAVES THE EARTH: less plastic in a landfill, saves recycling costs, production costs and emissions used to make paper and plastic bags, prevents litter. (More...)
- Shoppers at Wal-Mart, Target, Giant Eagle, Trader Joe's and many other groceries now see displays with reusable bags for sale. (More...)
- Envirosax bags -- made from durable, waterproof polyester and weighing just 40 grams -- are a great example, and are available around the city at McNally Robinson, Paper Root Studios, Land & Sea, House of Knives, The Compleat Cook and Twisted Goods. (More...)
- The company has 270 stores in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Locally the company has 30 Whole Foods and Wild Oats stores. (More...)
- Macy's put solar panels on some store roofs, is working to cut energy use, recycling more and generally trying to "green up." (More...)
- The executive director of Colorado Recycles will be at the store offering shopping tips for environmentally conscious shoppers. (More...)
SOURCES
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The Earth Day bag-sacking means New Yorkers will wave goodbye to 3.6 million plastic bags a year, says Jenn McDonnell, Whole Foods' regional green mission specialist. It also takes a massive bite out of the Big Apple's carbon footprint: It requires 430,000 gallons of crude oil to make 100 million bags, environmental advocates say, and each bag takes 1,000 years to decompose. "I think it's a pretty amazing thing," says Eco-Bags founder Sharon Rowe, who launched her reusable bag biz in Washington Heights in 1989. "It's a grass-roots movement that's finally taken hold." McDonnell agrees: She estimates that each of the city's three Whole Foods branches doled out a whopping 900,000 plastic bags last year, and she doesn't want to see them all replaced with paper. "Our push," she says, "has really been to get people to bring their own." Last year, the chain made a splash with its designer "I'm not a plastic bag" bag;''Tuesday they're giving out free totes; and next week they will unveil a $29.99 "Feed" cotton bag designed by first-niece Lauren Bush. According the Worldwatch Institute, Americans throw out 100 billion plastic bags each year, recycling only 0.6% - making them a primary target for the environmentally inclined. [1] Using Earth Day as a launch point, the entire Whole Foods chain will stop offering plastic bags and instead ask customers to use its recycled paper bags or to bring reusable bags from home.[2]
Instead shoppers may choose free paper bags made from recycled paper, reusable bags made from recycled plastic bottles for 99 cents each or canvas bags that sell for $6.95 to $35. They sell 99-cent reusable bags and refund customers a nickel every time they use one. They are watching how that effort is playing out in other locations where the plastic bag industry is fighting instead for mandatory recycling.[3] Whole Foods Markets is banishing the plastic shopping bag from check-out counters, and from now on groceries will be sacked in reusable or paper bags. Shoppers can bring their own bag or pay 99 cents for a reusable bag made from recycled plastic bottles.[4]
Paper bags take up more landfill space than plastic bags and require more energy and water to produce, according to Worldwatch Institute, an environmental researcher. The convenience of plastic bags -- light and re-usable for jobs like holding trash -- has kept them in demand. Customers forgetting their reusable bags at home may also be a factor. The decrease in use of plastic bags due to reusable bags is "minimal," said Hilex Poly president and CEO David Pastrich, whose company supplies metro Atlanta Publix stores with its plastic shopping bags. Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous confirmed that the company has seen no downward trend in plastic bag consumption in its Southeastern stores.[2]
San Francisco has banned plastic bags from major stores, and the New York City council just passed legislation requiring major chains to offer plastic bag recycling stations. Like Whole Foods, the West Coast-based Trader Joe's chain has long offered recycling and reusable bags, often with a weekly raffle to reward those who bring their own bags.[1] Today, other city gourmet chains are following the "green" lead. This morning, D'Agostino will announce the winner of a student contest to design its newest reusable bag. Fairway is giving away its reusable bags and green goodies to its first 250 customers. From now on, Gourmet Garage stores will give you 3 cents for every reusable bag you bring in, while Zabar's is offering 15 cents - an initiative started earlier this month that now has customers turning in between 2,000 and 3,000 plastic bags a week.[1] As the worldwide push to cut back on single-use plastic bags continues, an abundance of trendy eco-bags is springing up. It's no wonder, considering Canadians use about 10 billion plastic bags a year. With many stores beginning to charge for them -- or even eliminating them altogether -- you need a handy reusable tote now more than ever. That's why you've seen nearly every grocery chain start heavily promoting its own durable, reusable bags, often made from recycled plastic, which can themselves be recycled.[5] The $29.99 bag is made from 100% organic cotton and sustainable burlap. It collapses into a zippered pouch. Paper or plastic? As of this Earth Day, Whole Foods won't be asking anymore. In a landmark move, the country's leading gourmet supermarket chain is yanking plastic bags from every store - and replacing them with paper and a focus on reusable totes.[1] This is Earth Day and to celebrate Whole Foods Markets are saying goodbye to plastic bags. In their stead, recyclable and reusable carriers are in.[6]
The Whole Foods supermarkets have pledged to stop giving out plastic bags at the checkout counter by Earth Day.[7]
Contrary to myth, the United States is not running out of landfill space. It comes down to littering. Somehow we doubt that supermarket customers scatter their bags into streams. New York Times columnist Natalie Angier confessed she has been using Whole Foods bags to line her garbage cans and asked, "So if I have to buy plastic bags by the box, that's better for the environment how?" Good question.[7]
Whole Foods Markets has been selling reusable bags for years but is now going a step further. The natural foods grocer is on track to stop using disposable plastic grocery bags in its 270 stores by today, a company spokeswoman said.[8] Last year, the O'Hara grocer said it collected for recycling more than 1,200 tons of film plastic, much of which wasn't from bags, compared with 450 tons in 2006. The company has sold several hundred thousand reusable bags since it began offering them in November 2006. This year, Giant Eagle put up posters promoting reusable bags.[8] Swedish furniture chain Ikea will stop offering disposable plastic bags for purchase by October. The retailer started its phase-out last year by charging 5 cents for plastic bags and donating the proceeds to a forestry group.[8]
Last year, San Francisco banned plastic bags in all of the city's larger stores.[9] Hen House has offered reusable bags for 10 years and also recycles plastic bags. This month Seattle announced plans to impose a 20-cent "green fee" on all disposable shopping bags, aiming at both plastic and paper.[3] Many cities and some states are trying to ban the fly-away non-biodegradable plastic bags. This month Seattle announced plans to impose a 20-cent "green fee" on all disposable shopping bags, aiming at both plastic and paper.[3]
"The objective is to get to a zero-waste economy. That's where many plastic bags end up. Or they fly into the landscape or float off in rivers, lakes and oceans. They can take 1,000 years to decompose, in the meantime killing wildlife and marine life. It's not surprising, then, that many believe paper sacks are more green.[3]
The push toward eco-friendly bags is striking close to home. The University of Calgary handed out its last plastic bag early this year and Community Natural Foods will no longer offer plastic bags as of today. The Sierra Club Chinook Group is launching a push to ban or tax plastic bags this Saturday with a plastic bag cleanup in Edworthy Park (the event was supposed to happen last Saturday, but that pesky snowstorm prevented it). "We are taking the lead on this and writing a letter to council asking them to investigate it," says Grady Semmens, communications co-ordinator for the Sierra Club. "We want them to really look at the issue." He points to the Real Canadian Superstore as an example of an effective bag tax.[5] Beginning today, for example, the Whole Foods stores nationwide and locally will no longer offer plastic grocery bags.[3]
The bags are made of a poly woven polypropylene, feature the Food Lion logo and will be available in all Food Lion stores for 89 cents each. "There are several reasons why we have made the decision to offer these bags to our customers" said Brian Stokes, Food Lion's project manager, in prepared comments.[10] Food Lion will begin selling reusable shopping bags in all of its stores beginning today, which is Earth Day.[10] Now, as another Earth Day arrives, a third option is becoming popular here the reusable cloth bag.[3]
In honour of Earth Day today, we rounded up the best of the bags to meet all of your eco- needs.[5]
SAVES THE EARTH: less plastic in a landfill, saves recycling costs, production costs and emissions used to make paper and plastic bags, prevents litter. SAVES YOU: money (some stores give a discount for bringing your own bag), the annoyance of having too many plastic bags in your cabinets and closets; your groceries shifting and rolling out of their plastic bags in the car as you drive home from the store. [11] Bringing a reusable cloth bag to the store instead of taking paper or plastic bags at the checkout.[11] Jennifer R. Daurora, who handles business development for the stores, estimates at least 25 percent of customers bring a reusable bag. Growing acceptance of such programs spurred state Rep. Lisa Bennington, a Democrat from Morningside, to introduce a bill that would phase out the use of nonbiodegradable plastic bags at large stores in Pennsylvania that carry groceries.[8] Area Price Choppers have begun offering incentives. They sell 99-cent reusable bags and refund customers a nickel every time they use one.[3] Many grocery stores are offering reusable bags and some have gone even further.[3]
Despite the apparent trend in using reusable bags for grocery shopping, plastic remains quite popular for Gwinnett County shoppers.[2] Hen House has offered reusable bags for 10 years and also recycles plastic bags.[3] Environmentalists have touted the benefits of reusable bags instead of plastic and paper bags.[2] Brown attributed about 85 percent of the reduction to customers' using reusable bags and the rest to customers choosing paper bags.[2] Whole Foods' Michael Bepko explains the push is towards reusable bags even though paper bags will still be available.[6]
Whole Foods has several styles of reusable bags, from $29 to 99 cents.[9] McGinnis Sisters specialty food stores introduced reusable bags made in China last summer.[8] With reusable bags, you can have the best intentions. Unless you bring the bag to the store, they're useless.[9]
The retailer doesn't mind if customers bring reusable bags from other places.[8] Last weekend, the Mall at Robinson was one of 15 shopping centers owned by Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises to give out reusable canvas tote bags to customers who brought plastic bottles to recycle.[8] Instead of accumulating plastic bags at home, pick up a reusable one for a buck or two and leave it by the door or in your car so you remember to use it. Find them at the Clean Calgary EcoStore (809 4th Ave. S.W.).[5] Ms. Bennington now plans to offer an amendment that, instead of trying to stop use of noncompostable plastic bags, would mandate retailers offer at-store recycling programs. Giant Eagle officials have said in the past that they evaluated using compostable bags but rejected them.[8] Any proceeds will go toward ordering more, said Shema Krinsky, director of marketing. "My hope is to offer them to our guests every day." If there's enough activity on the part of retailers, they may be able to please the customers who focus on such things and cut bag use while avoiding too much governmental intervention on the issue.[8]
Ms. Bennington's bill does not address bag use beyond large supermarkets and drugstores carrying grocery items. She noted the sheer volume of bags that consumers tend to pick up during a visit to the grocer typically exceeds that at most mall stores. Putting recycling bins at the front entrance to a store such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Victoria's Secret or J.C. Penney might not fit the image that such retailers try to convey but, as the recent changes at Macy's show, the push to change shopping bags no longer stops at the mall doors.[8] The shopping bag offers a particularly visible example of how different stores have moved quickly to tailor the growing green trends to fit. A few years ago, the American bag seemed secure in its job, taking home goods and doing a little advertising work on the side.[8]
More than 100 billion plastic shopping bags are estimated to be used in the United States annually, according to The Wall Street Journal.[3]
Starting today at the Duluth Whole Foods supermarket, plastic bags are no longer an option for shoppers.[2] Plastic bags may go the way of the dinosaur. Ikea plans to ban them in October and starting Wednesday, Whole Foods won't use them.[9] Whole Foods' Regional President Michael Besancon says the plastic bag ban is coming just in time. He says, "Unless you're living under a rock, you have to see that we have a problem.[9]
Aside from Whole Foods, few grocers in the area are banning plastic bags entirely. They are watching how that effort is playing out in other locations where the plastic bag industry is fighting instead for mandatory recycling.[3]
"The consciousness level of the industry has been raised," said Dennis Reilly, chief financial officer for Consentino's Price Chopper. That doesn't mean plastic bags or paper will immediately go the way of the dinosaur.[3] Paper and plastic each have major drawbacks, and some areas nationwide are considering outright bans of plastic bags.[3] Plastic bags, like cigarette butts, are everywhere, and for that reason have garnered a much worse reputation than paper.[3]
Choosing between plastic and paper bags for eco-friendliness is a close call. It takes nine times as much energy to make a paper bag. It costs twice as much. It takes seven times as many truck trips to deliver the same number of paper bags. Both can be burned in incinerators to generate energy; plastic yields two times as much.[7] The chain will replace the 43 million or so laminated paper bags that it uses annually with a recyclable version made of 30 percent recycled materials. It will begin selling reusable cotton totes.[8] While most environmentalists take aim at plastic, the fact is that paper comes from trees and processing the bags creates greenhouse gases so the best bag is the one you can use again and again.[9] Being flexible makes management's decisions easier. Macy's will still use small plastic bags that seem to work best for items such as socks, jewelry and other small goods.[8] Did you know Americans throw away one hundred billion plastic bags every year? That's 100-billion bags.[9] "Second, we purchase millions of plastic grocery bags each year. By reducing the cost of buying bags, we can pass on those savings to our customers."[10] In Ireland the plastic grocery bag is almost extinct because of a 33-cent tax per bag. At least seven countries in Africa, including Kenya, have bans or taxes.[3]
San Francisco recently banned plastic bags, and Oakland, Calif., is considering a ban.[3] China, which some consider to among the most ungreen countries in the world, just announced a ban on the lightest plastic bags and a tax on others.[3]
The company claimed it reduced U.S. plastic bag consumption from 70 million plastic bags to 35 million.[8] Advance Polybag, the metro Atlanta Kroger stores' plastic bag supplier, said that hasn't necessarily led to changed habits.[2] Ebeck said that sales of the carryout bags are down, but attributed that to more customers' reusing plastic bags and more efficient packing of groceries.[2]
There also is some leeway for individual stores on the department store chain's policy of getting merchandise into bags rather than letting customers just go bagless. "It's not necessarily a hard and fast policy," said Mr. Sluzewski. He's not sure how many shoppers will decide to bring their own, rather than walk out with a new department store bag. "It does require you to remember to take them. If it's important to customers, they'll do it."[8] Some bag, any bag. "It is not necessarily a good thing for people to be walking out of a store with merchandise that's not in a bag," explained spokesman Jim Sluzewski. Sure, some people would rather forgo having their purchases put in a bag, but Mr. Sluzewski also believes customers wouldn't appreciate being stopped for a receipt check every time they leave a store.[8]
A week or so before the bill was scheduled for an early April committee hearing, lobbyists began contacting her. Letters came from groups such as the Progressive Bag Alliance, the American Chemistry Council, convenience store and food merchant groups, even massive retailer Wal-Mart. Most of the lobbying letters expressed concern over the bill but indicated support for recycling, she said. "They want recycling. They're going to get recycling."[8] Whole Foods customers used about 38,000 bags in a recent week but about 70,000 in a week last year, Brown said.[2] Available for $42 from Riva's. You can repurpose another bag, such as this one from Lululemon, or buy a Planet Organic bag for your "little sprout" for $2.49. Looking for something a bit more grownup? Pick up this fair-trade EcoBag made from certified organic cotton for $7.99 at Community Natural Foods.[5] The English Retreads purse, $85, is made in Colorado from reclaimed inner tubes, while the Bowler bag, $140, by Salvation Sacks is made from salvaged, vintage and recycled materials in San Diego. Both are available at Riva's -- The Eco Store (1534 17th Ave. S.W.) It's just $3 at their locations at the Calgary Farmers' Market and Glenmore Landing. This Prescott bag, $185, by Jack+Marjorie is made from old army gear, including canvas tents, wool blankets and suspenders.[5] OR TRY: Re-using your plastic store bags as garbage bags for the small garbage cans in your home, rather than buying separate garbage bags.[11] The grocery store isn't the only place environmental consciousness has hit in the bag world.[5] Reusable grocery bags were Marti Huff's practice recently as she shopped at Cosentino's Brookside Price Chopper.[3] "First and foremost, more and more people are becoming aware of the effect grocery bags can have on the environment.[10]
Shoppers at Wal-Mart, Target, Giant Eagle, Trader Joe's and many other groceries now see displays with reusable bags for sale. Discount grocer Aldi has long charged for disposable bags as part of its low-cost business model. [8] In 2007, the Atlanta division of Kroger sold 100,000 reusable bags, according to spokesman Glynn Jenkins.[2]
Envirosax bags -- made from durable, waterproof polyester and weighing just 40 grams -- are a great example, and are available around the city at McNally Robinson, Paper Root Studios, Land & Sea, House of Knives, The Compleat Cook and Twisted Goods. [5] The deeper retailers get into the issues around the shopping bag, the more nuanced it can be.[8] After the promotion ended, the bags were to be sold at the guest services desk for $3 each.[8]
The company has 270 stores in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Locally the company has 30 Whole Foods and Wild Oats stores. Other local groceries are taking note of Earth Day, as well. [4] Land & Sea in TD Square downtown has plenty in stock and is offering 10 per cent off today for Earth Day.[5] Shoppers will find a touch more green at some supermarkets today as the nation celebrates Earth Day.[4]
SAVES THE EARTH: You'll get food directly from your porch or back yard that ordinarily would be transported to your nearest supermarket using fuel.[11]
Macy's put solar panels on some store roofs, is working to cut energy use, recycling more and generally trying to "green up." [8] "Customers have really embraced it," said John Brown, team leader for the Duluth store. They've already begun making the switch since the January announcement to ban plastic.[2] If kissing plastic goodbye makes so much sense, why do we continue to use so many single-use bags? One of the biggest problems is forgetting our reusable totes in the car or at home, and finding ourselves bagless at the checkout.[5] Paper and plastic require energy to produce and recycle and, when not recycled, take up space in landfills.[2] Paper sacks, for example, generate 50 times more water pollutants than plastic and take more than four times as much energy to produce, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.[3]
The executive director of Colorado Recycles will be at the store offering shopping tips for environmentally conscious shoppers. [4]
SOURCES
1. The push to sack plastic
2. Grocery chain abandons plastic bags | ajc.com
3. www.kansascity.com | 04/21/2008 | The green revolution arrives for shopping bags
4. It's Earth Day - Whole Foods dumps plastic bags - The Denver Post
5. In the bag
6. Grocery store ditches plastic bags
7. The many shades of green - BostonHerald.com
8. Shopping bag choices moving beyond just paper or plastic
9. Some Grocery Stores soon will not use plastic bags
10. Food Lion introduces reusable bags on Earth Day | theleafchronicle.com | The Leaf Chronicle
11. EARTH DAY: Tips that can help environment, save money - Kalamazoo Gazette Extra - MLive.com
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