Plastic Bags Run Amok

Plastic bags are made of oil, and our bag habit costs us 1.6 billion gallons a year. That last statistic and its link to global warming are starting to drive change. Some of America’s largest retailers are already engaging with it customers about what to do with plastic bags.

Wal-Mart

The nations largest, and most conspicuous retailer is going green. Last year, the company incurred the costs to collect 56 million pounds of plastic bags and ship them to Rocky Mountain Recycling, which paid 10 million dollars for them. These bags will become lumber, food storage containers or garden pavers. But that’s not recycling, that’s “downcycling”. At the end of the paver’s useful life it will still go to the landfill. At least Wal-Mart is doing something as an incentive to recycle which takes us a step further in the green process. Plastic lumber spares trees, and using recycled plastic resin for other products avoids processing oil to make new resin. But much more is needed to solve the problem of plastic, which will last a thousand years in the landfill.

Whole Foods’ Bag of Carrots

The nation’s largest natural food grocer gives customers a nickel off (a dime in some places) for every bag they bring in to reuse. Spokesman Ashley Hawkins says, about 20% of customers supply their own bags. the company requires all cashiers to under go” bag training” to reduce usage and stores post signs explaining why they won’t double bag.

Ikea’s Green Ideas

The Swedish retail giant encourages customers to use fewer bags by charging 5 cent a bag for each plastic bag they take.(Ikea donates the nickel to American Forest, a non profit organization.) they have already cut their bag consumption by 50%, far more than expected. The company also reduced the price of its blue reusable totes from .99 to .59.

Aldi

This German giant retail grocer encourages customers to bring their own bags. They sale paper bags for .5 per bag, and also sale reusable cloth bags. They do not use plastic.

Target

Target lists 10 uses for plastic bags on the bags. Encouraging customers to reuse the bags for trash bags, kitty litter liner, lunch bags. The bags suggest you’re cool if you reuse them.

Because municipalities are picking up the tab for unclogging pipes- plucking bags from drains and ditches and either recycling them or disposing of them in the landfills , they’re the ones making the most noise by forcing retailers to change their ways. The city of San Francisco spends 8 million a year on bag clean-up. The nation’s best know retailers are already engaging with customers about what to do with plastic bags. Given a choice reducing consumption is better than reusing what’s already out there, which in turn is better than recycling.