2008.01.22
Paper or plastic?
What kinds of grocery bags do you prefer? I have a feeling we’ll see plastic bags gradually disappear from grocery checkout lines.
Whole Foods, a grocery chain based in Texas, says that it’s doing away with plastic bags because they’re not safe for the environment. Instead, they will offer free paper bags, reusable sacks for 99 cents or canvas bags, ranging from $6.99 to $35.
And if a customer brings their own bag, they’ll receive a 5 cent to 10 cent discount on their grocery bill.
Here’s the article for more information.
There are no Whole Foods locations in the Roanoke or New River valleys, but Ukrop’s Super Market, which has a Roanoke store, is making a similar push. Last week I blogged about how Ukrop’s is giving customers a 5-cent credit on their grocery bill if they use reusable bags in which to carry groceries. It’s another effort by grocers to encourage environmentally safe shopping.
What other local examples of this have you noticed?
Weren't we told to switch from paper bags to plastic about 20 years ago so we would "save the trees"?
Comment by G Warming — January 22, 2008 @ 4:44 pm
Kroger sells reusable bags for .99 cents and insulated zippered bags for $1.99. They also have reusable, six-compartment bags for wine bottles.
Comment by Nona — January 22, 2008 @ 4:54 pm
Do people really buy that much wine that they reuse bags that hold six bottles at a time?
Comment by G Warming — January 22, 2008 @ 10:32 pm
To make all the bags we use each year, it takes 14 million trees for paper and 12 million barrels of oil for plastic. The production of paper bags creates 70 percent more air pollution than plastic, but plastic bags create four times the solid waste — enough to fill the Empire State Building two and a half times. And they can last up to a thousand years.
(from an NBC nightly news article - 2nd one down by doing a google search under "paper or plastic")
Comment by gabe — January 22, 2008 @ 11:29 pm
I fear bringing roaches home in paper bags.
Comment by Lady23bug — January 23, 2008 @ 7:52 am
G Warming: Yes, some people do buy that much wine. Not on every trip to the store, mind you, but we do buy wine. And we enjoy it very much.
Comment by Nona — January 23, 2008 @ 9:53 am