'Tis the season to go shopping, right? So why not help sustain the environment by bringing your own bags to tote your goodies and findings in?
That being said I'm sure it's no surprise for me to tell you that many stores are now encouraging customers to make a switch from paper and plastic bags to reusable bags, such as tote bags. These bags may be purchased for approximately $1-2 a piece and are generally - and conveniently - located at the front of the stores near the checkout registers.
One of my old roommates informed me once that in Canada reusable bags are quite popular, although that may be because most stores there actually charge their customers a fee if they choose to use paper or plastic bags. I feel this is a great way to motivate people to purchase the bags; I feel the customers may be motivated to purchase the bags since purchasing reusable bags once will actually save them customers money by the end of each shopping trip!
Often when you see the eco-friendly, reusable bags the bags generally have some sort of catchy phrase imprinted on it to let you know that the bag is to promote going green and leading an eco-friendly. One example would be the Kohl's 'buyology' bags. These bags have been designed to resemble a word definition, similar to one you would find in a dictionary. As you can tell they changed the spelling of 'biology' to 'buyology' to give the bags a clever incentive and following afterwords was the phrase '1. The science of shopping green. 2. A selfless act in which today's living, shopping organisms carry reusable totes to offset the overabundance of plastic bags. 3. A simple way to support the environment and living matter in all its forms.'
I think this is a clever way to encourage eco-friendly habits as well as allowing the company to do a little marketing. I really enjoy how they created the word 'buyology' and gave it a meaning, in fact I liked it so much, I purchased the bag!
As I was searching online I also found a website that sells a number of eco-friendly bags, from ogranic bags, to bags made from recyclable materials to bags that can biodegrade once you are finished with them!
Finally, the last piece of information I would like to share is that if you do have a plethora of plastic bags at your home that you really don't use the UMD bookstores have an area located in the stores where you may drop off the bags to be recycled.
Now that you have been debriefed on eco-friendly bags I encourage you to go out and save money - and the environment - by utilizing reusable bags!
I actually just mentioned to my mom today that I was going to buy a tote bag to buy my groceries. So many paper/plastic bags are used ONCE then tossed in the garbage or maybe even found somewhere outside floating around. It's so easy to just purchase one and start saving waste immediately. Next time I go, I will buy one at the front of the checkout lane.
ReplyDeleteThat was a very good strategy on Kohls part. So many plastic bags are wasted for not reason. When I cashier I ask many people who only have a few small things "Would you like a bag for this?" and its surprising how many people either take a second to think about it and say yes or look completely offended that you even asked them. When I go to the grocery store or any store if I can carry all my purchases up to the check out, I can carry them to my car and back home. Its very unnecessary to need a bag for a pack of batteries and a bag of candy. Many times I just wish I could just tell them to stop being lazy and wasteful! haha but I'd like to keep my job!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have purchased one of these bags at SuperOne for when my groceries are just a few too many items to carry.
Charging a fee for plastic bags is a great incentive. I should really go out and buy a reusable bag, I always use paper. When I worked at a grocery store in high school we were told to ask the customer "Is plastic okay?" because they were trying to discourage customers from using paper. I look back on that now and realize that it wasn't the right thing to do, they were only doing it because it costed them less.
ReplyDeleteI actually studied abroad in Australia last spring and was shocked to see that EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE brings their own reusable bags to the grocery store when they grocery shop. It was so common that I felt like I needed to buy some to "fit in". So I bought two bags while I was there and used them each time I went. I think this is a great idea that the U.S. absolutely needs to adopt!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good idea, and think this idea of bringing reusable bags are a really easy way to improve our environment. I find the hardest thing about reusable bags is to remember to bring them to the store!
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of making people pay for plastic bags every time they use it is a good idea. It makes people realize that what we are using is so wasteful, and there are better ways to haul our stuff around. I wish I had thought of reusable bags as my SMART goal; I always tell myself I am going to bring my reusable bags with and always forget!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! I always never remember to bring tote bags when i do go out but I do find them more handy than those plastic bags. They are better support and can carry more things in it! Sometimes too much that it can weigh more than I can handle. When I went to China in the summer of 2008, I found out that plastic bags were charged if you needed them so most of the time I always had to carry my backpack around when I purchased grocery. Maybe the U.S. should charge for the use of plastic bags too!
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