The company is trying to make the transition easy for shoppers accustomed to plastic by providing an array of options:
"We make it easy by offering a wide selection of reusable bags for sale at our stores — check out our “Better Bag” — only 99 cents and it’s made from recycled plastic bottles. Helping the environment in two ways!" (from their website).
Disposable bags have long been discouraged in many European countries (Ireland recently joined the cause, instituting a tax on bags to get people motivated) and earlier this year even China stepped up.
A smart move and something that all of us can do in our collective effort to fight pollution, and fits well with Whole Foods vision on sustainability and our future.
And also, maybe it'll help offset some of the backlash that co-founder John Mackey caused with his message board blunder last year. Hope you learned your lesson, John (just remember: Transparency).
Since Whole Foods' plastic bags are practically the thickest ones out there, I'd say they're in a little bit of a hole karma-wise, so at least the competition will have a minute to catch up (and catch on).
ReplyDeleteAlso, 92% of people claim to re-use their plastic bags (according to the American Chemistry Council). So perhaps the Hefty business will reap the benefits--and hey they could start marketing their bags as "grocery bag sized" so people would know already where to use them.
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