Whole Foods says that by Earth Day 2008 they will be eliminating plastic bags and instead offer only paper bags or reusable bags made from recycled plastic bottles for $0.99.
You are invited to bring your own bags and get “a refund of at least 5 cents per bag.”
Do you like this idea?
We’re going all out for reusable! [Whole Foods] (Thanks, Corey!)
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“Paper or plastic?” “Oh, I’m writing a check.”
@chiieddy: Bingo, this isn’t about saving the environment — it’s about making money. I think that asking paper or plastic is the most customer-centered way. I use the plastic when ever I have something that may spill and recycle them for disposing kitty litter. The paper ones are good too.
I just laugh that people somehow think any business is in it for anything else my $$. Then again they are the same ones who thing all plastic bag users/producers must be EVIL and the musky canvas bag users are SAINTS.
By the way, the shelter I volunteer at would like all the extra plastic bags to use for picking up doo-doo. Unless, of course people think using their unbleached canvas sacks would be more environmental.
Bah. What’s a few bucks more to their $50/lb for “organic” fruit.
But I do applaud Whole “Lotta Money For” Foods and hope more companies follow suit in helping our damaged planet, in some small way .
We do most of our shopping at Whole Foods and Henry’s Market. We already bring our own bags as a means of being responsible stewards of the Earth. This move by Whole Foods is a logical extension of their desire to promote eco-friendly services and it probably saves them money, too. Makes sense to me, and I agree with it.
The bags we bring, however, are sturdy, woven nylon bags. We also keep two insulated bags for frozen goods. The bags go back to the car’s trunk after each shopping trip. It both limits our consumption and gives us a means of reducing waste. Good move, all around.
When I go shopping I ask for Paper AND plastic, and I usually take a couple extra plastic bags and force feed them to some puppies as I leave the store. Gimme a break people. If Whole Foods really wants to make a difference, start a shopper rewards program where to start, your customers get a FREE CLOTH BAG (instead of a rewards card) with a unique bar-code on the bag. If you want to save some money, bring the bag to scan. End of problem. Replacing flimsy plastic with more durable plastic is like putting premium instead of regular in your car. Horaay! You’ve solved the global energy crisis!
Most countries (England etc.) are charging a tax or eliminating plastic bags altogether. In parts of Africa they joke that the National flag is the plastic bag. These bags never degrade and get into the ocean. They are eaten by fish that die and rot, and then the bag is released and kills again and again. I think they should charge $1 a bag and donate the money to help the environment. Usage will drop by 98% and the rest will be money well donated. I always say “no bag” and people look at me funny when I just grab what is on the counter and walk out of the store. Like I need a plastic “thank you” bag for my pack of gum and bottle of water…..
If you need bags, make friends with a librarian. Vendors love to hand out “book” bags – even though nothing is printed in books anymore (joke!) – and most of us have tons hanging around in our offices. Since none of us make much money, they also come in handy when shopping at the original “bring your own or buy our bags” store – Aldi’s.
@Dheerajs: the reusables sold by stores are traditionally made from recycled soda bottles, so it’s not wasting a bunch of new plastic. That’s left to those here who are going to continue to take the regular grocery bags.
It’s kind of pointless, it seems, to constantly be posting about green stuff on Consumerist. 75% of posters crap on whatever the effort is, and the rest of us make most-likely-futile attempts to talk sense to the “why should I care? It’s not like one small thing will make any difference, so why should I be inconvenienced?” crowd. A site like Consumerist is probably not the place, what with the emphasis on consumption and such.
So, Meg, I fear that you waste your time.
I love this idea, plus Whole Foods has the best reuseable bags of any store out there – they hold tons, they are sturdy, last forever and they have long handles.
Pretty silly. Oh well, I guess I just won’t shop there anymore.
@kimsama: I got a free reusable cloth bag from Concentino’s Market… can I use that?
It’s a good idea in theory and might work for Whole Foods, but it’s not going to work at Wal-Mart, Meijer, Target, etc. Most people who shop at those stores probably don’t go into Whole Foods because of the price. I can’t imagine the average Wal-Mart shopper willingly paying for plastic bags that they previously were getting for free or remembering to bring the reusable bags.
As far as plastic bags for the meat and produce, most grocery stores including TJs do have them. However, a lot of people do not bother to use them to bag their meat and fruit.
Ha! Glad I don’t shop there. I wanted to take a camera outside and watch the hippies struggle with their worm covered organic tomatoes when they forget their bags, good job Al Gore, for making something hilariously amusing out of something so simple!
My SuperS has been selling washable fabric bags (possibly made from recycled plastic) for nearly a year now…$5 for 4 bags (all I need for a grocery shopping trip). They have a nice paper bag look and a plastic sheet that fits in the bottom for stability. IKEA sells their big blue bags (all recycled plastic) for $0.65…I have two of those, and they are useful for all kinds of carrying chores. I also bought a nylon bag from the Container Store that zips into a tidy carrier that fits perfectly in my purse: it gets used several times a week for miscellaneous purchases. I find I have to explain myself all the time to checkout people who are looking for a price tag on my bags!
I work in a store that just got bought up by Whole Foods (hi from Ideal Market if any Boulderites are in here) and this seems sort of pointless. The bakery, cheese, deli, and meat departments all package things in plastic bags (depending on the item). And those are bags that are far less reusable than the big ones you get at checkout. Lucky for us, probably only 1 in 6 customers or so even takes a bag upon checkout.
At least I don’t shop at Whole Foods.
I’m okay with using getting plastic bags so I can reuse them. It’s just that some people don’t know how to manage their own waste. Everyday in the city I see plastic bags flying around because of some idiot(s) who refuse to dispose of it properly.
If there’s one type of plastic bag I’m against, it’s those flimsy ones. Man, they are REALLY useless.
I’m sorry a bunch of you are outraged because bringing your own bag is just soooo inconvenient for you.
That’s a shame; I use their plastic bags for my trash. Other grocery stores use much smaller plastic bags, which don’t work as well.
You can complain to Whole Foods about this new policy by going to:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/contact/contact.html
OK, those of you who are whining should really stop.
This is such a tiny step in the right direction. I’ve been using the same NET bags for the past 15 years. Originally only Stop and Shop carried them for $2.98 each, I bought two and when they began wearing our a couple of years later I bought a couple more. Then I found PURPLE nylon net bags at the $1 store. They are all washable if they get meat juices on them and they fit in my pocket when I go to shop. The REAL issue now is to get all the producers to stop with the CRAZY amounts of packging that everything comes in. Although the plastic boxes are coded for recycling, how many are ACTUALLY ACCEPTED FOR RECYCLING? Our Hudson Valley recycling center accepts only plastic bottles with screw tops, if they took all the other packaging I would have almost no garbage at all. For the fun of it sometime, take home your groceries, empty them from their packages and see how much weight you would save without the packaging. AND when you buy one thing from a place like Home Depot that is already in packaging, why would you need another bag to put it in?
Is this a good idea?? Yes, yes, yes! Buy a pack of heavy-duty nylon bags for $20 (or less) and bring them with you. (I like these: [www.delight.com] ) And when you leave a store with only an item or two, try those old fashioned carrying devices called your hands.
I live in San Francisco; our groceries stores are required to bag your groceries in paper bags. I think this is great! Because I never has any use for the small plastic bags. The paper bags i use for keeping my recycling…
The last time I let Whole Foods use a paper bag, the handle tore off halfway to my car in the parking lot, dumping my groceries (cans!) all over the pavement.
Not to mention that we can recycle plastic bags, but have to throw out the paper ones because cockroaches can be hidden in them.
It’s a terrible idea! Well, nobody said saving the environment was easy!! So you’ll have to reuse your bags. Big deal! A little inconvenience goes a long way. I went to Taiwan a few years back and they recycle EVERYTHING! As an American, it seemed totally silly to me, but it makes a lot of sense: instead of charging people CRV and having them toss Coke bottles in the trash (or on the street) anyway, you DON’T charge them anything and make it illegal to dispose of them irresponsibly, e.g. not placing them into “recycle only” trash bins or taking out the “recyclables” when the collection truck comes (a-la trash truck on trash days).
Allow me to be blunt, but it’s impossible for even homeless people going through your trash to pick up every unrecycled bottle/can. In Taiwan I noticed that there are TWO receptacles everywhere there is a trash can: one for trash, and one for recyclables, not unlike certain college campuses, such as UC-Irvine, which had three “trashcans” (trash, glass, plastic) last time I visited there.
If we don’t start recycling/phasing out plastic materials from our behavior, bees won’t be the only dwindling species on Earth.
For your reading pleasure:
[marine-litter.gpa.unep.org] World’s_largest_landfill.pdf
[en.wikipedia.org] Great Pacific Garbage Patch
According to a memo that employees received, Whole Foods will be giving away hundreds of reusable tote bags (the 99 cent ones made from recycled plastic bottles). This should be on Earth Day (22 April 2008) or just before. So if you are one of the first couple hundred customers on the bag giveaway day, you can get one of these bags for free.
Also, in response to some of the previous comments, the paper bags can be reused for many of the same things that people use the plastic bags for (i.e. dry household trash). If paper bags cannot be recycled in your area or you don’t want to reuse them for groceries, try bringing them back to Whole Foods and ask an employee to put them in the cardboard baler because brown paper can also go in the bales. I did this for a customer once.
At my WFM you can also donate the 5 cents to the charity of the month. We live in a upper class area, however, you’d be amazed at the amount of cheap people who take it off their bill.
@DCvision: I work at whole foods and we ask you how many bags you used, not how many bags you bring in.
@Schmanz: it’s not about making money at all. granted, you can buy a bag at whole foods to reuse but you can also bring in your own from somewher else. using plastic bags to pick up poop is easy and convenient, but plastic bags take years to break down and indeed hurt the environment.
@sleze69: well then don’t buy those bags, bring your own! problem solved.
@anyanka323: target and walmart are actually encouraging people to use reusable bags right now. i saw them recently and i was very glad. it will take longer to catch on, but at least they’re trying.
@coold8: i can’t wait for you to get some terrible disease from eating your conventional vegetables. it will also be interesting when one of your pets swallows pieces of plastic bags that someone threw on the ground and you have to pay $2,000.