Green Retailing Memo: One Year Since Eliminating Plastic Bags Whole Foods Market Says Reusable Use Has Tripled; 150 Million Less Bags in Landfills

Whole Foods Market teamed up with singer Sheryl Crow (pictured above, right) to design its value-priced "A Better Bag" reusable canvas shopping bag (pictured above, left). The reusable bags, which feature a tree drawn by Crow, come in two sizes and sell for 79-cents and 99-cents (large bag) respectively.

Nearly one year ago, on Earth Day, April 22, 2008, Whole Foods Market, Inc. eliminated offering free single-use plastic carrier bags as an option in all of its stores in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. Instead, Whole Foods' decided to offer shoppers only free 100% recyclable paper grocery bags (made from at least 50% post-consumer recycled paper), along with making a major push to encourage customers to bring there own reusable shopping bags with them to the stores, as well as offering a variety of reusable bag varieties for sale at a variety of price points in its natural and organic foods markets.

[Read our April 21, 2008 story about Whole Foods Market's banning the plastic bags in its stores here: Green Retailing Memo: Whole Foods Market, Inc. Self-Bans the (Plastic) Bag Tomorrow; Has Related Regional Earth Day Promotions Planned For All Stores.]

A.C. Gallo, Whole Foods Market, Inc.'s co-president and chief operating officer says the Austin, Texas-based natural grocery chain decided to eliminate the single-use plastic carrier bags on Earth Day last year "in an effort to help protect the environment and conserve resources, a move that aimed to protect nature and wildlife and reduce litter by encouraging customers to bring reusable bags when they shop for groceries."

Last year hundreds of Whole Foods Market's store-level team members joined the non-profit Ocean Conservancy group's annual coastal cleanup day in which thousands of volunteers pick up litter and catalog what they found along beaches and coastal waterways throughout the world.

"During Ocean Conservancy's 2008 International Coastal Cleanup, 1.4 million plastic bags were found littering our oceans, lakes and rivers," says Dianne Sherman, Director of the International Coastal Cleanup. "Trash travels. Even if we live thousands of miles inland, our actions have a profound effect on the ocean. A bag can blow from a picnic table, wash down a storm drain into a river and wind up harming or killing a sea turtles, birds or other marine life. Trash is one of the most pervasive - but solvable -- pollution problems facing our oceans and waterways. Whole Foods Market and their customers are demonstrating how simple lifestyle changes can make a sea change."

When it eliminated the plastic grocery bags last year from the checkouts in all its stores Whole Foods Market became the first major U.S. grocery chain to do so.

Gallo says that in the one year since Whole Foods' eliminated the single-use plastic carrier bags from all of its natural foods supermarkets the chain has seen the amount of reusable bag use among its customers triple. Additionally, Gallo says that the natural and organic grocer has kept an estimated 150 million plastic bags out of landfills since last Earth Day.

That's a considerable amount of plastic bags for one food retailing chain with just under 300 stores to keep from going into municipal landfills, which is where most of the single-use bags go because there isn't a comprehensive recycling system for the plastic bags in the U.S. like there is for paper grocery bags.

"At first we wondered if shoppers would just switch to paper but to our great surprise, people have been truly excited about using reusable bags," Gallo says. "I think Whole Foods Market has also helped that along by offering various versions of stylish, affordable 99 cent bags that have become quite popular - our shoppers have been inspired to make a positive environmental change and have really incorporated the reusable bag mindset into their daily lives. Eliminating plastic bags was definitely the right move at the right time."

Whole Foods' sells a variety of reusable bags in its 279 stores in the U.S., Canada (six stores) and the United Kingdom (five stores). Its value-oriented "A Better Bag," which sell for 79 and 99-cents respectively, depending on size, is constructed primarily (80% of its content) from recycled plastic bottles. The bags currently feature a charcoal sketch of a tree drawn and signed by singer Sheryl Crow.

The natural grocery chain also sells a variety of lower -to- mid-ranged priced reusable tote bags on up to its premium $29.99 cotton and burlap FEED 100 bag. Each FEED bag purchased by shoppers helps provide 100 nutritious lunches to hungry Rwandan school children through the United Nations World Food Program's School Feeding Program, as part of charitable program Whole Foods Market contributes to.

Whole Foods Market also offers customers a refund of either five or 10 cents per-reusable bag used at the stores' checkouts. The amount varies depending on the store and where it is located.

Paper bag use has increased at Whole Foods' stores since the retailer self-banned the plastic bags nearly a year ago. We know this because we've talked to store-level employees in at least 40 Whole Foods Market stores over the last year who have told us this is the case. However, that's to be expected, and we have no problem with it for a couple reasons.

First, the paper grocery bags are 100% recyclable. Nearly every city and town in the U.S has convenient, curbside recycling programs. And many of the smaller town that don't have the curbside programs allow resident to toss their paper waste into their green waste garbage cans. Since paper, including paper grocery sacks, is compostable, the disposal companies turn it and the green waste into compost which the towns use in parks and also sell to companies and often give away for free to town residents to use in their gardens

Additionally, the paper bags used at Whole Foods Market stores are at made from at least 50% post-consumer recycled materials, and the grocer is working on 100%. This means the bags a shopper gets today came from at least half of a bag that was recycled and turned into the new bag.

Unfortunately single-use plastic carrier bags are seldom recycled in the U.S., largely because there isn't a comprehensive recycling system established to do so . Few if any curbside recycling programs allow single-use plastic carrier bags, for example.

In states like California and New York, supermarkets are required by state laws to place bins in the stores so that shoppers can return the plastic bags. The retailers also are required to arrange to have the bags picked up by a company that will have them recycled.

But the simple fact is that American consumers generally will only recycle if its convenient to do so, which is why residential the curbside system works best. Before that cities used drop off centers. Recycling rates were minimal. Curbside increased the rates dramatically.

In addition, only about three or four states have such laws.

In 2007, Whole Foods Market introduced all-natural fiber packaging at its in-store salad and food bars that comes from plants that grow wild or are cultivated and harvested annually.

Whole Foods' is currently searching for alternatives to its use of plastic bags and plastic containers in its stores' produce, seafood, bakery and bulk foods departments, according to Gallo. Since customers generally use a single plastic bag for each individual item purchased in these departments, that adds up to using lots of these single-use small bags storewide for Whole Foods.

Any replacement bag for these uses though requires that the material used in the bag is food grade, since it will be coming into contact with fresh and ready-to-eat foods.

Before the invention of the plastic bag for use in produce and plastic bags and containers for in-store bakery, supermarkets used paper bags and paper boxes (remember those pretty pink bakery boxes?) in these departments.

Some supermarkets still use paper along with plastic in their in-store full service bakeries. However few do largely because the cost of plastic is cheaper.

Switching to paper is something we think Whole Foods should take a look at and consider for both bakery and bulk foods. It's a bit more difficult for produce, although their are supermarkets that still offer a choice of plastic and paper bags for shoppers in the produce departments. Paper can be used to wrap fresh fish but usually stores put it in a bag first in order to preserve its freshness. That could be more difficult to find a solution for.

One of the reasons retailers like using plastic in produce, bakery and bulk departments is because the store checkout clerks can see the item through the bag, which speeds up checkout. However, we think in the case of bakery and bulk, going to paper for Whole Foods wouldn't slowdown checkout all that much, particularly once the clerks got used to peeking inside the bag when the need to, mostly in the case of produce since the bulk bags are supposed to be identified by code numbers anyway.

It would be hard of course to go to paper completely in any in-store bakery we realize because in some cases clear packaging, prepacked cakes and the like, is needed to display the product in self-service. But items in the full-service cases could be packaged using paper bags without much difficulty. Safeway Stores, Inc. for example does this in its stores, using a mix of paper (for service bakery) and plastic.

Of course, a truly biodegradable-compostable plastic bag for seafood, fresh meat, produce, bakery and bulk that doesn't cost retailers an arm and a leg would be a great solution. But none are available at a decent cost yet on the market that we've been able to find.

There is a slow behavior change going on among consumers in terms of bringing their own bags to the grocery store. And since Whole Foods Market happens to cater to the "greenest" of "green" consumers it's likely the behavior change is and will always be more dramatic in its stores, compared to say conventional supermarkets.

But with steady education, along with economic incentives designed to decrease plastic and even paper bag use by shoppers, its our analysis that over the next few years we will see more and more shoppers, regardless of where they shop, bringing there own bags to the grocery store.

In fact, it is some of the no frills, deep-discount grocery chains like Germany-based Aldi (Europe and the U.S.) and Lidl (Europe), and Supervalu's Sav-A-Lot (U.S.) that are leading the way in encouraging shoppers to bring their own bags to the store because they charge customers a small fee (usually five to 15-cents per-bag) for each single-use plastic bag they request at checkout, providing a small but still real economic incentive to shoppers to bring their own bags to the store. Many shoppers bring single-use plastic bags or paper bags from previous trips or from other stores with them to these stores, not just specifically designed reusable tote bags. Doing this takes the "single-use" out of the paper and plastic bags.

And of course more and more cities, counties and even states and nations (Ireland, China) have and are passing plastic bag ban laws or laws requiring shoppers to pay for the single-use plastic bags in stores if they request them. As more of these laws are passed, which they will be, that obviously will decrease the amount of single-use plastic bags used overall, both in the U.S. and globally. [Related story: Green Memo: Ireland Has Reduced the Use of Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bags By 94 Percent With Bag-Fee Law; Has Exceeded EU Recycling Targets.]

For example, China banned the bags nationwide last year. That resulted in a huge global decrease in usage in one legislative fiat. Of course it would be better if consumers adopted the use of reusable bags without all the added new legislation.

What's needed are additional and new creative ways to change shopper behavior more towards the bring-your-own-bag concept, along with some solid economic incentives designed to move the behavior change along more rapidly. We see both coming.

Reader Notes

~Click here to read a selection of past posts in Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) on the plastic and reusable bag topic and issue. You can also use the search box at the top of the Blog. Just type in the search terms "plastic bag issue," "reusable bags," "plastic grocery bags," or "single-use plastic carrier bags."

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Green Retailing Memo: Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. and General Mills Launch Free Reusable Shopping Bag Cross-Promotional Program Today

Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., which is a division of Dutch retailer Royal Ahold, NV, and food industry manufacturer and marketer General Mills, Inc. today announced an innovative Earth Day-themed reuseable shopping bag cross-promotional campaign in all of the grocery retailer's 389 stores.

Starting today and running through Thursday, April 24, Stop & Shop customers who purchase at least $15 worth of General Mills' brand products in a single store visit such as Pillsbury baked goods, Green Giant frozen vegetables (that jolly 'Green' Giant), General Mills' ready-to-eat cereals, Yoplait Yogurt, Haagen-Dazs ice cream, Betty Crocker branded products, Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen brand natural and organic products, and many other Big G. brands, will receive five free reusable shopping bags.

Stop & Shop also is launching a second initiative beginning on May 9 as part of what it is calling its "Think Green" green retailing campaign.

For each single-use plastic carrier bag, paper grocery sack or reusable shopping bag a customer brings into the store, the food retailer will deduct 5 cents for each bag used to bag their grocery order from the shoppers total purchase cost. For example, if a shopper brings in ten bags and all ten are used to bag their grocery order, Stop & Shop will deduct 50 cents from the total.

Numerous U.S. grocery chains are already doing this; giving shoppers a 5 cent (and in a few cases a 10 cent) per brought-in grocery bag credit off their total grocery order amount. Some chains are even giving customers 5 cents off per bag for each paper grocery bag they bring in beyond the number used to packaged their purchases.

For example, if a shopper brings in 20 paper grocery sacks but only five are needed to bag their purchases, the retailer will keep the remaining 15 and give the customer a total of $1.00 off their total grocery order purchase amount at the register.

Stop & Shop and General Mills have a number of point-of-purchase product displays, featuring GM products, promoting the four-day buy by $15 worth of General Mills' brand products and get five free reusable shopping bags from Stop & Shop campaign.

Green Retailing Memo: City of Los Angeles, CGA, Grocers Team-Up For Big Reusable Bag Giveaway Program Today and Tomorrow

The California Grocers Association (CGA), the trade group for the state's chain and independent grocers, is spearheading a major, multi-grocery retailer Earth Day 2008 reusable shopping bag giveaway in Southern California in partnership with the City of Los Angeles.

Beginning today and through tomorrow (Earth Day) a group of retail grocery companies which includes: Albertsons, Inc. (a division of SuperValu, Inc.); Ralphs Grocery Company (a division of Kroger Co.); Vons and Vons Pavilions (owned by Safeway Stores, Inc.) ; Food 4 Less; Smart & Final, Inc.; Henry's Farmers Markets (owned by Smart & Final); K.V. Mart supermarkets; El Super supermarkets; and Superior Grocers; is giving out about 50,000 free reusable shopping at more than 40 stores throughout Los Angeles.

Each district of Los Angeles has at least one store participating in the reusable bag giveaway, which is designed to encourage shoppers to bring their own bag to the supermarket, according to Ronald Fong CGA's new president.

"Reuseable shopping bags are a readily available, viable, and cost effective alternative to traditional (single-use) shopping bags," Fong told Natural~Specialty Foods Memo. "We commend the city of Los Angeles for taking the lead in reuseable bag awareness and education and hope this event sets the stage for partnerships with other municipalities throughout the state," Fong added.

The two-day Los Angeles Earth Day 2008 free reusable bag giveaway promotion began this morning at 6am. Each store customer will get one free bag per-transaction today and tomorrow or until the available 50,000 reusable shopping bags run out.

The reusable shopping bags being distributed to shoppers for free by the Southern California grocers are constructed of a polyester-like fiber material and are made from 100% post-consumer recycled material which includes recycled water and soda bottles. The bags have a message on them touting the fact they are made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic. That message is: "Great Taste and Zero Waste."

CGA and its member-grocery chains and independents are trying to increase consumer use of reusable shopping bags in California, along with decreasing the amount of single-use plastic (and paper) carrier bags used in the state's supermarkets and grocery stores.

The grocers' association and its members supported AB 2449, the law which was enacted last year requiring California grocers with larger stores to place plastic grocery bag recycling bins in those stores, as well as to sell reuseable shopping bags in all those stores.

As we reported yesterday a new bill AB 2058 passed the California State Assembly Natural Resource Committee last week.

That bill, written by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, the same Southern California Assembly Member who authored AB 2449 (the in-store bag recycling bill), would require the state's grocers with larger stores to meet two single-use plastic carrier bag use reduction goals, one by 2011 and another by 2013. If either of those goals aren't met, the law would then require the grocers to charge a 15 cent per-bag fee to any customer who requested plastic.

AB 2058 now goes to the California State Assembly Appropriations Committee for debate and an eventual vote.

The city and county of Los Angeles also is considering a proposed single-use plastic carrier bag law which would either levy a fee on each plastic grocery bag shoppers request in the city's supermarkets and drug stores or perhaps ban the bags completely.

The California Grocers' Association represents about 500 retail members, who collectively operate about 6,000 food and grocery stores in California. The association also has over 200 supplier members who do business with these retailers.

Green Retailing Memo: New Issues Emerging From Growing Consumer Use of Reusable Bags: Worker Injuries, Shoplifting Claims, 'Double-Bagging'

In Australia, the shop assistants' union which represents supermarket clerks, is claiming the growing use of reusable shopping bags, especially those of the canvas and cotton variety, is causing injuries to store clerks because the reusable bags can hold up to 40% more weight in groceries than single-use plastic carrier bags or paper grocery sacks. As a result, all the lifting and toting of the heavier-when-filled reusable bags are causing injuries to the store workers, according to the union.

As a result, the shop assistants' union is proposing laws that would protect the store workers from injuries caused by the heavier-when-filled reusable shopping bags.

The Aussie store clerks' union says it has statistics which show about 11.3% of the nation's supermarket clerks have been injured lifting the reusable shopping bags after packing them with a customer's grocery purchases.

The issue is beginning to gain steam in Australia because the country's government is expected to pass a law banning the use of single-use plastic carrier bags next year.

The union is just beginning to formulate a series of laws it says are designed to protect the store clerks from back and other injuries they say are increasingly being sustained because the canvas and cotton reusable shopping bags can hold many more items than a single-use plastic carrier bag, thus becoming much heavier to lift off checkout stand counters, put into shopping carts and carry out to customers' cars at supermarkets which offer that service.

In a piece earlier this week in which we mentioned that one unintended consequence (although it should have been expected) of the single-use plastic carrier bag ban for supermarkets over 10,000 square feet the city of San Francisco, California enacted last year, is that the use of paper grocery sacks in the stores has increased dramatically. The allow still allows the store to offer paper grocery sacks for free to shoppers.

Our point isn't to suggest the plastic bags should not have been banned. That's the choice of people and governments in democratic societies.

Rather, we're just pointing up that there often are unintended consequences when laws like bag bans are enacted.

It appears the supermarket clerk health and safety issue being brought up by the Australia shop assistant's union is one of those unintended consequences; in this case of the growing popularity of consumers doing the right and "green" thing by bringing their own reusable shopping bags to the grocery store rather than having the store use single-use plastic carrier bags or paper grocery sacks to pack their purchases.

The issue isn't isolated to Australia

The heavier reusable shopping bag issue and store worker injury or potential injury issue isn't unique to Australia. We've noticed it personally in stores in the USA. The eyes of supermarket clerks sometimes glaze over when they see a shopper present three or four canvas or cotton reusable shopping bags for their grocery order to be packed in.

We've asked a store clerk or two about that "look," and they told us the only problem with the reusable bags is that when full they are so much heavier than plastic bags--and even paper grocery sacks when filled. They've added that after an eight hour day--especially one in which lots of shoppers brought their own reusable grocery totes--of packing and lifting the heavier bags, their backs and shoulders get rather sore.

Others have noticed this phenomenon in supermarkets as well.

For example, below is a post a consumer wrote on the Yahoo Answers website regarding a discussion of just this issue involving reusable shopping bags at supermarkets:

When the cashier started scanning my merchandise I told her I brought my own bags. She just looked at me confused as hell and then said she couldn't use them. I was a little baffled because why couldn't she? I come to realize it was mostly due to pure laziness in wanting to pack with my bags. She told me I had 2 options 1. let her bag them in which she'd use the plastic bags or 2. I bag them and use my own bags.

A bit later on Yahoo Answers, a number of posters mentioned the reusable shopping bag being heavier than plastic grocery bags when full issue regarding this poster's reusable bag experience at her supermarket, as the likely culprit to that store clerk's attitude and behavior.

We doubt if such flat out refusal's are the norm--or even a 5% of the time issue. However, other consumers say they've experienced similar (though not refusals like the shopper quoted above) situations regarding supermarket clerks and reusable bags.

Below is an experience one consumer posted on a website called Daily Green:

2008 @ 2:18PMBigGUM said...Only once did a grocery clerk not want to use my bags. I suppose I could have thrown a fuss, but I opted to bag my own stuff instead. Usually my grocery store doesn't blink an eye and recently they've even started selling their own bags. Now just the other night at Target the cashier first attempted to scan my bags, then just went ahead and bagged my bags (!) in a plastic Target bag. When she finally understood what they were for she was flummoxed. Didn't I *like* the Target bag? Oh, I must be one of those save-the-environment people, right? No joke!

Other emerging issues regarding reusable shopping bags

This consumer's post points up another issue (other than the store clerk health and safety one) we've been recently told about regarding reuseable shopping bags in stores.

That issue is that in some cases store workers either tend to think shoppers are buying the bags at the store--and thus try to scan them like the consumer quoted above experienced--or even worse, we've been told by a number of consumers that store personal thought the shopper might be shoplifting with the reusable bags.

For example, below is a quote posted on Daily Green regarding the potential shoplifting issue:

-2008 @ 7:54PMAshleyThe Amazon said...I have literally been chased down by Wal Mart greeters when I enter a store with my own reusable bags, usually on a regular basis. One greeter claimed it was a theft issue and she needed to put a pink sticker on it to differentiate from their merchandise. These were bags emblazoned with "IKEA" and "Whole Foods" on them!! So obviously not theirs! I usually get dirty looks from the cashiers as well. They don't understand why I try to cram all of my items in the bags I brought. I have had these issues at 3, count them, 3 different stores. I wonder if its really a big company issue. Kinda makes me less likely to wanna go there.

Lastly, it seems many supermarket clerks are used to a certain routine which all shoppers are aware of. That routine has been company policy at supermarkets for years, primarily for perceptual rather than real reasons, but flies in the face of the reusable bag culture.

Here is an example: Clerks will put fresh meat, poultry or seafood for example into a separate plastic carrier bag so as to not let the package come into contact with other grocery products. They often do the same with fresh produce and other perishable or frozen items. In the latter case to keep the items frozen or cold. The concept is that in the separate bag there will be no "contamination."

Many shoppers who religiously bring their own bags to the store say this practice still happens to them when the supermarket clerk is bagging their grocery order.

The clerk, following store and company policy will "bag" fresh meat, poultry and seafood items for example in separate single-use plastic carrier bags, then put those bags along with all the other groceries into the customer's reusable shopping bags.

Of course, such practices defeat the source-reduction purpose the consumer intended by bringing his or her own bag to the supermarket. The shoppers then say they have to ask the clerk to please remove the items from the single-use plastic bags; which the clerks always do in the cases we've been told about or read about.

For example, here is what a poster on Daily Green had to say about the situation:

1-10-2008 @ 11:37AMBrigid Keely said...When I shop at grocery stores other than Whole Foods, I get confused looks when I say I brought my own bags. Sometimes the bagger bags everything in plastic bags (double bagged, t'boot) and then drops them in the bags I brought.One cashier teased me for having bags emblazoned with logos from stores other than his, but it was very friendly, and he made sure the bagger bagged our stuff correctly (ie, not in plastic).

Conclusion

Like all behavior and policy change, the growing use of reusable shopping bags isn't without its problems, as our examples point out. And since the goal is to grow this behavior and practice further, the unintended consequences are likely to grow and multiply.

However, we believe the in-store related behaviors can be fixed with effort by management, consumer patience, cooperation by the store clerks, and time.

The supermarket clerk injury situation currently being brought to attention by the Australian retail clerks union though could just be a bigger and less easily solved issue.

With the consumer use of reusable bags growing, more governments banning single-use plastic carrier bags completely, with others passing bag-fee laws and even retailers like Whole Foods Market self-banning the plastic bags in its stores beginning on April 22, we think the health and safety issue regarding the reusable shopping bags and potential and real store worker injuries is in its infancy. In other words, as the use of reusable shopping bags increases, so will the intensity of the issue, and not just in Australia.

We expect the issue to begin to emerge in the United States and Europe soon, as it is presently in Australia. As such, it promises to add another layer to the already multi-layer issue of paper, plastic--or reuseable bags.

Green Retailing Memo: California State Assembly Committee to Vote on Plastic Bag-Fee Measure Monday; Many Grocer's Support Bag-Fee Legislation

On Monday (April 14) the Natural Resource Committee of the California State Legislature is set to vote on a measure that would impose a mandatory fee of 25-cents per-bag on the use of free, single-use plastic carrier bags at all grocery stores and pharmacies in the state, regardless of the stores' size.

According to the legislation, which if passed will then go to the full California State Assembly for a binding vote, the money raised by the 25-cent per single-use plastic carrier bag fee would be divided-up using a per capita formula between the state's local governments to be used for litter prevention and reduction efforts and programs.

If the bill makes it out of committee to the full California State Assembly and then passes that body with a majority vote, it would be the first statewide mandatory per-bag fee law in the United States.

There has been very little media attention in the Golden State regarding the proposed statewide 25-cent single-use plastic carrier bag legislation. This is largely because the vote on Monday is only a committee vote. While in committee, legislation can still be amended and changed, although since the bill is coming to a vote on Monday that's generally a signal the committee majority party chair (Democrat) and the ranking member (Republican) have agreed most of the amendments to the bill if any have been made and it's time for a full committee vote.

Our California state government sources tell us the chances for the 25-cent per-bag fee legislation to pass in the Natural Resource Committee on Monday are pretty good.

One interesting aspect of the proposed legislation is that to date there has been very little if any opposition from either the state's supermarket and pharmacy retailing trade associations, such as the California Grocers' Association, or individual grocery retailing chains or independents in the state.

In part this is because as we mentioned earlier, the legislation is still in committee rather than being up for a binding vote in the full state assembly.

However, that's only a small part of the reason for the lack of any significant opposition to the proposed law.

The more interesting aspect of the story is that numerous supermarket chains and independent grocers in the state agree with the 25-cent per plastic bag fee legislation, or are at least not inclined to oppose it. Part of the reason these grocery retailers might agree with the proposed statewide law is they see either outright bans or per-bag fee laws coming on a city-by-city piecemeal basis anyway.

As mentioned above, San Francisco passed a single-use plastic carrier bag law last year, which has now been in affect for about eight months. The law is limited in that only grocery stores and retail pharmacy's which operate stores over 10,000 square feet are banned from offering shoppers the free plastic bags to pack their purchases in. Department stores and mass merchandisers regardless of size are exempt from the law, as are the city's hundreds of small mom and pop grocery stores, convenience stores and green grocers, among others.

Across the Bay, the city of Oakland has passed a similar law. However it's currently in the courts because an association representing plastic grocery bag manufacturers has challenged the ordinance.

Other California city's, ranging from nearby Bay Area cities Berkeley and Palo Alto, to tiny Willits in the north coast, Davis in the Sacramento region, and Santa Monica and others in Southern California, are proposing outright bans on the single-use plastic carrier bags.

Huge Los Angeles County also is getting ready to propose legislation that would either ban the bags completely or impose a per-bag fee.

The state of California also passed a law last year which requires all supermarket chains and independents with stores over a certain square footage to place plastic grocery bag recycling bins in their stores and to sell reusable shopping totes in each store.

It's this climate which we believe is the reason there hasn't been any significant industry opposition to the proposed per-bag fee legislation thus far. In fact, numerous California grocers seem to be just fine with--and in some cases even supportive of--the proposed bag-fee law which will be voted on in committee on Monday.

Bay Area grocers voice support for per-bag fees at meeting

For example, at a meeting of grocery industry leaders and grocers held yesterday morning by the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Palo Alto, a number of grocers attending the gathering voiced their support of a single-use plastic carrier bag fee rather than seeing outright bans happen on a city-by-city piecemeal basis, which is occurring.

The city of Palo Alto is planning to implement a law on April 28 which will ban plastic grocery bags from being used in the city's 13 largest supermarkets and pharmacy's.

The grocers at yesterday's meeting said they oppose the Palo Alto plastic bag-ban. But not perhaps for the reasons you might think.

Although the grocers oppose the city ordinance, they said it isn't because they have a fondness for the single-use plastic bags. Rather, they argued since laws like the San Francisco bag ban have been implemented (some of the grocers at the meeting have stores in San Francisco as well as in Palo Alto) what they've seen is a surge in shoppers requesting paper bags, even though all of the stores are selling reusable shopping bags for as little as 99 cents each, and have even held free reusable bag giveaway events to encourage shoppers to bring their own bags to the stores.

Dave Bennett, President of local upscale supermarket chain Mollie Stone's, which has a store in San Francisco, along with a number of stores in the region, told the group since the plastic bag ban was enacted in San Francisco "our paper bag usage (in that store) has shot through the roof."

Dan Conway, the corporate director of state and local governmental affairs for supermarket chain Safeway Stores, Inc. which is headquartered in the Bay Area, said paper bags cost grocers about 10 times as much as the single-use plastic carrier bags. He didn't say if Safeway is opposing or supporting the plastic bag fee legislation set for a committee vote on Monday.

The consensus among the grocers at the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce meeting yesterday was that they would go along with some sort of per-bag fee, including putting a surcharge on paper grocery bags as well as plastic carrier bags.

They further said they are in support of an aggressive campaign, which they would help support financially and materially, that would launch an educational program in the city, which is home to Stanford University and many high-tech companies, designed to encourage shoppers to use reusable bags, including holding frequent free reusable bag giveaway days in their stores.

The grocers, along with Tim James who is with the California Grocers Association trade organization and was at the meeting, also said they want all retailers to be included in any law which puts a fee on plastic and paper bags, not just supermarkets and pharmacies.

"Allowing consumers to use plastic bags at some stores, but not at others (types) sends a mixed message," James told the group at the meeting.

Another grocer, John Garcia of the local multi-store independent JJ&F Fine Foods, agreed with James. He said, "My personal feeling is you just make this big bang (a law imposing a fee on both plastic and paper carrier bags) and then there is no confusion. Everybody does the same thing, and it's done."

Safeway's Conway told the group instead of banning the plastic bags, the city council should create a per-bag fee scheme, perhaps indicating that Safeway will support the statewide plastic bag-fee scheme set to be voted on in the Natural Resource Committee on Monday?

"Adding a fee would literally solve the problem with single-use bags," Conway said. "You (the city of Palo Alto)would see the swiftest and most dramatic decline in single-use bags in the entire country, hands down," he added.

Other representatives of Bay Area supermarket chains and independents joined in the chorus saying they too would likely support a single-use plastic carrier bag fee like the one set to be voted on by the Natural Resource State Assembly committee on Monday.

A spokesman for upscale Bay Area-based grocery chain Andronico's Market, which has one store in Palo Alto and others located throughout the Bay Area, said he supported charging a fee for the now free plastic grocery bags.

"You (the city of Palo Alto) need to take it (plastic bag ordinance) to the next step," he said. "If we've been giving these (plastic grocery bags) away since the 1970's and not getting reuse out of them, it seems like the fee would be the most effective; you might even get national attention," he told the Palo Alto city officials who were present at the meeting.

Local independent grocer Steve Piazza, who owns the 3-store upscale Piazza's Fine Foods chain in the area, said he too would go along with a law that imposes a per-bag surcharge on the now free plastic bags, as well as on paper grocery sacks.

The city officials at the meeting, along with the grocers present as well as the local business leaders who are members of the city's Chamber of Commerce, said at the meeting they felt it was an historical morning. The grocers' commented it was the first time they could recall being able to sit down with city officials as a group and be able to give input and perhaps shape or change a policy that effects them directly.

Palo Alto is set to enact its single-use plastic carrier bag ban on April 28. The law will only ban supermarkets and pharmacies over a certain square footage from offering the free, single-use plastic carrier bags in their stores. That's why only 13 local supermarkets are affected by the ban. All other types of retailers, along with smaller grocery and convenience stores will still be able to use the single-use plastic carrier bags.

After the meeting, Phil Bobel, the city's environmental compliance manager who is responsible for making the ban happen on April 28, said he was willing to work with the grocers on the issue, and would consider recommending to his bosses in the city that the upcoming ban perhaps be postponed until September, so the city and grocers could work together on the issue.

Further, he said if the grocers' seriously supported and worked on gaining support in the next few months for a per-bag fee instead of the ban, he might consider suggesting his bosses take that matter to the city council for review before September.

After the meeting however, a number of city officials and others in the audience told us they believe the city will go forward with the single-use plastic carrier bag ban on April 24 because such a large majority of Palo Alto voters are in favor of it.

A number of these actors and observers told us it would be a good idea to impose an across the board per-bag fee for every type of retail store in the city; but not instead of the upcoming April 28 ban, but rather in addition to it.

The argument from many in the city is that these 13 largest supermarkets and pharmacies (especially the supermarkets) account for a much higher percentage of plastic carrier bag use because of the nature and volume of the businesses. As a result, they believe by starting with the largest supermarkets and pharmacies, then moving on perhaps later to other retail classes of trade, they will see an immediate decrease in litter for example, from the bigger-store plastic bag ban.

SoCal grocers not as vocal on the issue...yet

We haven't heard similar support for local or a statewide plastic carrier bag fee law from grocers in Southern California, although since numerous cities in that region have bag-ban laws set to be voted on by city councils soon, they may feel the same way as their Northern California cousins do.

Additionally, Safeway is a major supermarket industry player in Southern California (as in northern) where it operates the Vons' chain. Therefore, if California's leading grocery chain were to support the statewide bag-fee legislation in committee that would go along way to not only gaining similar support from other grocery chains but from the California Grocers Association as well.

Further, as mentioned early in this piece, Los Angeles County is working on passing a law that would impose a charge on all single-use carrier bags used by supermarkets in that highly populated Southern California county.

This means grocery chains like Vons, Ralphs and many others which have stores in Los Angeles County and in numerous other counties in the region, will be able to offer plastic bags in their stores outside Los Angeles County but not in those stores in the country. Piecemeal laws like this can cause havoc for retailers.

In addition, if many of the cities pass their own pending plastic grocery bag bans, that means the region's grocers will end up with a further piecemeal system--some stores in some counties and cities offering plastic bags, while those in the cities with the bans won't be able to.

Most of Southern California's supermarket chain and independent retail companies are likely to come to the same conclusion the grocers at yesterday morning's Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce meeting have we think: that a uniform, statewide single-use plastic carrier bag fee (of say 25 cents a bag) might be far better than either county-by-county or city-by-city outright bans or piecemeal bag fees.

Whole Foods Market to stop using plastic grocery bags on Earth Day

One major event that's going to put single-use plastic carrier bags in general, and the legislation to be voted on in committee on Monday specifically, in the spotlight in California is that on April 22, Earth Day, Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market, Inc. will voluntarily stop using single-use plastic carrier bags in all of its stores in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.

Whole Foods' has numerous stores, and is building many more, in California. The supernatural grocer also garners lots of publicity in general in the California media, and will garner even more in the days leading up to the Earth Day self-imposed plastic bag ban.

All of Whole Foods' California stores (and most of those throughout the U.S.) are planning major events on Earth Day, including celebrating the retailer's voluntary plastic bag ban. Whole Foods stores will be giving away free reusable shopping tote bags, selling others at discount and holding major in-store promotions celebrating the earth, environmentalism and sustainability.

No other grocery chains in California have yet to announce that they, like Whole Foods, plan to stop using the single-use plastic carrier bags in their stores.

We expect Earth Day (April 22) and the days leading up to the event and after, to be a watershed moment in terms of the single-use plastic carrier bag issue internationally, nationally in the U.S., and particularly in California if the Natural Resource Committee passes the plastic bag-fee legislation on Monday and sends it to the full California Assembly for a binding vote. Even if passed by the full State Assembly, such a bill would still have to be signed by the governor in order to become law.

Further, if the bill is killed in committee on Monday, that will increase and intensify the local county and city bag-ban legislation efforts in California, which is the focus at the local level rather then per-bag fee legislation.

This story is just beginning. We will be following closely, starting with bringing you the results of the Natural Resources Committee vote on Monday.

The issue is a global one. Single-use plastic carrier bag bans are happening all over the world. Earlier this year the world's largest country, China, banned every retail store in the nation from using the bags. Other Asian countries and numerous African nations are doing the same.

Additionally, the United Kingdom's Parliament is currently debating the enactment of either an outright bag ban or a per-bag charge in that nation. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has already said he is in favor of passing either an outright ban or a per-bag fee scheme before the end of this year.

Ireland has already passed a nationwide law which puts a charge on every single-use plastic bag used by every retailer in that country. The law has been in effect for about two years. The country's government says plastic bag use has been reduced by nearly 90% since the law was passed.

The European Union is discussing a nationwide ban or bag-fee scheme as well. In addition, there is legislation pending in Australia on either a ban of per-bag fee, as there is elsewhere in the world. It's a global issue--and it's heating up.

If the California 25-cent per bag fee legislation does pass, it will have global influence. Not only is California the largest state in the U.S., but it has the world's fifth-largest gross domestic product, which makes its economy even bigger than those of a number of European nations.

The state also is a trend setter in the grocery industry. If the Golden State's grocers and grocery trade associations do support the bag fee legislation, that could open the door for grocers all over the U.S.--and elsewhere like the UK--to do the same. Stay tuned. We will be.

Green Memo Feature: Scientifc Evidence From the Lands and From The Oceans Suggests it's Time to Solve the Plastics Waste Issue

Scientists have recently discovered what they call a "plastic soup" of floating waste in the Pacific Ocean that is growing at an alarming rate, and currently covers an area twice the size of the continental United States. This massive, floating plastic garbage dump stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the California coast, across the northern Pacific, past the Hawaiin Islands and nearly as far as Japan.

American oceanographer Charles Moore was the first scientist to discover what he has named the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch." Moore estimates what he terms as this drifting "trash vortex" contains about 100 million tons of flotsam. Dr. Marcus Eriksen, a collegue of Moore's and director of the US-based Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which was founded by Dr. Moore, says the floating garbage dump is almost like a plastic soup. "It is vast and endless for an area that's about double the size of the continental United States, and is growing rapidly," Dr. Eriksen says.

According to Moore, Eriksen and other researchers, the drifting plastic garbage patch is composed of everything plastic, from shopping bags and plastic packaging, to things like Lego toys, laundry detergent bottles, footballs, empty water bottles, and most everything plastic that is disposed of outside of a landfill or not recycled. The scientists estimate about one-fifth of the plastic waste is thrown off ships or oil platforms, and that the rest--the vast majority--comes from the land and is washed out to sea.

Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer is another researcher who's been working on the buildup of plastics in the ocean issue for over a decade. He makes an analogy of the floating plastic "trash vortex" to a living organism. 'It moves around like a huge animal without a leash," he said at a recent conference on the issue. When the floating garbage patch comes close to land, "the garbage patch 'barfs,' and you get a beach covered with this confetti of plastic," he says. Dr. Ebbesmeyer and others have observed this "barfing" and the resulting beach being covered with shredded plastic waste on beaches in the Hawaiin archipalago.

Dr. David Karl, an oceanographer at the University of Hawaii, says he is launching a major expedition later this year to further investigate and better document the origins of the floating plastic garbage patch. He says he thinks the garbage patch represents a new habitat and recently explained why.

According to Karl, historically, garbage that ends up in the ocean has already biodegraded. However, this is clearly not the case with the giant plastic flotsam. Rather, he suggests modern plastics are so durable that plastic items a half-century old have been found in the Pacific Ocean grabage patch. "Every piece of plastic manufactured in the last fifty years that has made its way into the ocean is still out there," Karl says.

Because the floating patch of plastic trash lies just under the surface of the ocean and is translucent, it can't be detected and viewed in satellite photographs, the researchers said. Rather, it can only be seen from the bows of ships, which is why the scientists have to go out to sea to study the flotsam.

The Pacific Ocean garbage patch has created a cottage industry of sorts. Aquatic garbage scavengers. Above, a scavenger paddles a canoe through the garbage vortex near a Manila waterway in the Philipines. (Courtesy: Getty Images.)

This massive and fast-growing floating plastic garbage dump at sea is posing many problems. For example, according to numerous independent researchers and the United Nations' Environmental Program, plastic debris in the ocean causes the death of at least a million seabirds each year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals. Researchers have found plastic grocery bags, plastic toothbrushes, disposable cigarette lighters and numerous other plastic items inside the stomachs of dead seabirds and marine mammals, who mistake the items for food and ingest them, causing their deaths.

There's agreement among scientists and oceanographic organizations who study the issue, that plastics make up about 90% of all trash floating in the world's oceans. In 2006, a study sponsored by the UN Environmental Program determined that every square mile of ocean contains about 46,000 pieces of floating plastic refuse.

This seaborn plastic garbage doesn't just cause death and health risks to seabirds and mammals, but to humans as well, according to the scientists. Dr. Erikson says it is well excepted that the fast-growing, floating vortex of plastic rubbish poses a risk to human health.

He explains that hundreds of tiny plastic pellets, called nurdles--which are the raw materials the plastic industry uses to make plastic items--are spilled or disposed of every year and work their way into the oceans. These pellets act as chemical sponges of sorts, attracting man-made chemicals such as hydrocarbons and the pesticide DDT to them. They then enter the food chain, he says. "What goes into the ocean goes into these animals (fish, seafood) and onto your dinner plate. It's just that simple," he says.

Our Analysis and Viewpoint: The Ecological Crisis, Plastics Legislation, Taxes and Outright Bans: What to Do?

The scientific evidence on how plastic refuse is affecting the oceans and killing marine birds and mammals, as well as posing human health risks is clear, based on the research of those scientists sited in this piece and many others. What else the waste might be doing in unknown at present, but being researched by ecologists, oceanographers and others.

This oceanic evidence adds to what we already know about the harmful environmental, potential health and economic effects that plastics not recycled or disposed of properly causes on land as well: litter, landfill issues, and the like.

Above is a photograph of 2 million plastic beverage bottles, which happens to be the amount Americans throw away every five minutes. (The photo is by Chris Jordan.)

Taken together--by land and by sea--it's obvious a solution has to be found to this growing crisis. This fact is being recognized in increasing frequency by countries, states, provinces and cities throughout the world. China, for example, has banned thin plastic shopping bags. Beginning in June retail stores in the wrld's most-populous country will no longer be able to use the bags to package customer purchases.

In the USA, cities like San Francisco and Oakland in California also have banned the use of plastic grocery bags by retailers with stores over 10,000 square feet. Currently, more than 50 cities in the U.S. are considering banning the use of plastic shopping bags at retail (prmarily food stores) in one form or another.

Some countries in Africa have banned plastic shopping bags as well. Using a different strategy, the government of South Africa has required manufacturers to make plastic shopping bags much thicker, thus being more durable and expensive, than they normally are. As a result of this law, inacted five years ago, the government says there's been a 90% reduction in use because the bags are so much more expensive.

The government of Australia has recieved agreement from 90% of that country's retailers to stop using plastic bags, and is considering banning them outright nationwide. The state of Victoria already has its own ban on plastic bags.

In the United Kingdom (UK), Parliment is currently debating a ban for most of metropolitan Britian. Vancouver, BC. has banned plastic carrier bags in the city, and there is legislation to do so nationwide making its way through the governmental process in Canada. Other Canadian cities aren't waiting; they're pushing through their own local bag bans.

Ireland has placed a 15-cents per-bag tax on shoppers if they want to have their goods packed in plastic bags. The Irish goverment says there's been a 75% -to- 95% drop in consumer use of the bags since the tax was initiated two years ago. Similarly, in Tawian, the government now requires all retail food stores, convenience stores and restaurants to charge customers extra (a tax) if they want plastic bags and plastic serving utensils. According to the government, this has resulted in a 69% drop in the use of the plastic items over the last six years. The tax went into affect in 2001-2002.

Other states in the U.S., such as California, New York and New Jersey, have taken a different legislative approach instead of new taxes or fees. Last year, California past a statewide law which requires all grocers with stores over a certain size to place plastic bag recycling bins in their stores, and to offer reusable shopping bags for sale in every store. New York and New Jersey recently passed similar legislation for their respective states. Cities in each of these states have the right to ban plastic bags completely however.

Food retailers are getting into the picture on their own as well. U.S.-based Whole Foods Market, Inc. recently announced it will stop using plastic grocery bags in all its stores in the U.S., Canada and the UK in June of this year. Whole Foods will offer only100% recyclable paper bags in its stores, as well as sell reusable grocery carrier bags. The grocer already gives shoppers a 5-cent per bag discount on their grocery purchases for every reusable bag they bring with them to the store, as do many other grocery retailers.

Trader Joe's, the popular U.S. specialty grocer with over 300 stores, doesn't offer plastic bags in its stores at all--never has. Instead it encourages shoppers to use reusable shopping bags, gives them a per-bag discount for doing so, and offers paper bags which it says are made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper.

Why all the focus on plastic shopping or grocery bags?

The reason plastic shopping or grocery bags have been the primary focus of legislation, taxes and outright bans throughout the world is because they are generally the most prevelant form of plastic litter or waste. They clog landfills, taking ages to biodegrade, are found all over the roadsides and elsewhere, and are one of the most common sources of that floating plastic refuse vortex described by the scientists at the top of this story.

Plastic shopping bags however are far from the only source of plastic clogging landfills, being thrown all over the roadsides, and clogging that floating plastic garbage dump in the Pacific Ocean. Legislating, taxing and banning the use of plastic shopping bags might be a good first step, but it's dealing with only a tiny fraction of the problem.

What to do?

What's needed in our view is a comprehensive, market-based and public policy-based effort to deal with the entire disposable plastic waste issue. This effort must invlove all stakeholders: consumers, retailers, product manufacturers who use plastics, plastics manufacturers, governments and non-governmental organization.

We believe countries, states, provinces and cities have the right to legislate, tax and ban the use of plastic bags and other plastic containers and materials. We essentially support much of what's being done on that front in fact.

However, we have a few problems with it to date. First, the scope of the focus is too narrow. As we said above, plastic shopping bags might be a good first step, but its just the tip of the iceberg.

Second, the legislation, taxes and bans are so piecemeal they will end-up causing much confusion in the long run. We don't know how this can be avoided as such piecemeal legislation is part of being a soveriegn government. And in countries like the U.S. and most of the Western world, which use some form of Federalism, states and cities and other localities have the right to make their own laws and create taxation policies within various national restrictions. Further, one can't expect a less-developed country to be able to enact the same type of laws as a developed and rich one.

Lastly, and most importantly, we want to see a mix of market-based incentives (carrots), increased environmental education, and disincentives (sticks) like taxes, legislation and outright bans when needed to address the entire plastic packaging and disposable waste issue.

Towards a comprehensive approach

What do we mean by a comprehensive approach, using a combination of market-based ideas and government public policy: taxes, legislation, bans, and the like?

First, a comprehensive approach is key. This includes governments, the private sector and citizens being onboard. And, of course, this will very from country-to-country. Totalitarian states like China can announce a ban on plastic bags in January, like they did, and say it will go into affect a mere six months later in June (which it will) without any objection. It's a bit harder--thankfully so--in more democratic countries.

We are far from having the answers to a problem as large as this. Nor do we even pretend to know the solution. However, what we do have are ideas, and a framework, which is the comprehensive carrot and stick approach we described above.

Below is our suggestions and basic overview of how such an approach to trying to solve the plastic waste issue and the associated health, ecological and economic problems that come with it might work.

First, it's a fact that if citizens were more responsible, recycled plastics regularly where it's available, didn't litter, and were more careful with their personal consumption, the issue would probably be at least onlyhalf as bad as it currently is. As such, any discussion of solving the problem we believe must start from the point of personal and indivual responsibility.

Left to their own devices however, we suspect it will take many decades or more for individuals to see the "green" light and become more environmentally responsible. We must say though that compared to let's say the 1980's, just 25 years ago, environmental responsibility among most consumers has increased dramatically. This has been largely because of environmental education programs created by various groups and governments and aimed at consumers. Over the last 10 years the private sector also has started to jump in and offer such education as well. It works. Not near 100% of course. But it has a positive effect over time.

Education: The first part of our comprehensive solution model then is a dramatic increase globally in environmental and ecological education as it relates to the use of plastics and its affect on the environment. This effort needs to be paid for by taxpayers, plastic companies, manufacturers who sell plastic goods, and the retailers who sell them. A joint effort, with all stakeholders buying in. What's needed is at least double the environmental educational efforts we see today.

Industry R&D Economic Incentive Package: The second part of this comprehensive blueprint involves government and the plastics industry. Governments in those countries that have plastics manufacturers should create a massive program, including tax incentives and other economic bonuses, with a mandate to the plastics industry to come up with more rapidly-biodegrading plastic bags, bottles, containers and the like.

This incentive package--say an initial five year program--comes with a stick: that if the plastic companies take the economic incentives but don't make progress, they will face further legislation, more taxes and other penalties. These are all coming anyway--so they would be wise to get onboard if such an incentive package comes there way.

Industry Efforts and Pressure: Product manufacturers must put more pressure on the plastics' industry to innovate better and faster, creating new plastics from plant-based products that biodegrade faster. Retailers in turn need to put more heat on their suppliers who use plastic packaging to create products--like concentrated laundry detergents for example--that reduce plastic in the packaging, and to even innovate new packaging that eliminates plastic completely.

Retailers also need to increasingly make policy decisions like Whole Foods' has on its self-banning of plastic bags, and like Wal-Mart is doing with its recently introduced packaging scorecard, which will eventually mandate that its suppliers use a minimum of 25% less plastic in their packages than they currently do, or else the retailer will not buy that particular item from the supplier. This policy process at retail--the place where the consumer and the retailer interact directly--not only will help eliminate much plastics waste in the short run, it also will have the long run result--if practiced by enough big retail chains--of making the plastics industry realize they better innovate and make changes or face serious sales losses.

For example, are disposable plates made out of plastic really a good thing? They are far too durable for just a single-use and then disposal. On the other hand, they don't hold up well in the dishwasher. How many people really wash them by hand (you can get multiple-uses that way). Probably zero. Paper plates, which can be recycled, and reusable plates, which can be washed by hand or go in the dishwasher and last for decades, are the way to go. Disposable plastic plates, which are sort of a mid-point between recyclable paper and reusable plates, are an example of what we feel is a superfluous product. Companies of course have the right to make the plastic disposable plates, but the demand is questionable.

Retailers also must increase the pressure on their suppliers to go back to the plastics industry and let them know that if they don't innovate at a much faster place they stand to loose business because the suppliers' customers, the retailers, are telling them they want source- reduction, rapid biodegradable plastics, and other innovations.

Consumer Power: Consumers must also get more skin in this game. They need to start voting more with their shopping dollars. Buying more products packaged minimally or alternatively, eliminating purchases of plastic utensils and other items that have alternatives, and telling their grocers and other retailers they demand less plastic in the products they buy. This includes bringing their own reusable shopping bags to the store, saying no to excessive plastic takeout food packaging, and a myriad of other consumer-focused behaviors, which are probably the most important factors or elements of all those described in this blueprint.

Law Enforcement: Government (s) needs to get serious in terms of fines and penalties for littering and other unlawful waste disposal. Something on the order of a $500 fine for tossing a plastic grocery bag or water bottle in the street might provide an economic incentive for people to avoid doing so the next time they think about it.

Legislation: Legislation will continue along the lines it currently is. Some countries creating laws which try to influence behavior, others creating new taxes on plastic packaging (like the bag legislation), and still others passing outright bans. Our only thought here is that to the greatest extent possible, governments should try to shoot for uniformity when they can. It does little overall good in the larger sense to have a plastic bag ban in San Francisco, for example, when plastic bag use in South San Francisco, less than a mile away, is legal. States and provinces will have to take the lead on this uniformity for it to happen.

In some cases outright bans might be needed. We are pretty free-choice when it comes to such things. However, we also realize that at times problems can be so serious that such free choice has to be modified: You can't drive drunk in most places in the world, minors can't buy tobacco products, grocers must keep there stores clean, and even in the U.S. you can get arrested for yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre if there really isn't a fire.

In the case of plastic bags, we think its time for most retailers to just say no more to the use of the regular, non-biodegradable plastic bags. There are decent biodegradable bags on the market--and they are getting better. There's really no reason, except not wanting to invest, that plastics companies can't make a superior biodegradeable shopping bag today. The science is there. All that's required is some investment. A few more Whole Foods'-style self plastic bag bans by big retailers--Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway, Kroger for example--and we will see a superior, biodegradable shopping bag on the market in no time flat.

Plastics Fees or Taxes: We think its time for countries like the U.S., the UK and others to creeate a plastics fee or tax structure. This fee or tax would be shared by the plastics industry, manufactuerers who make plastic products and use plastic packaging (laundry detergent, milk jugs and the like), retailers and consumers. Everybody needs to be all in. If you're not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

For example, lets use a plastic gallon milk jug or laundry detergent bottle to illustrate our example. Everybody down the line--the company that made the plastic, the consumer products' company or milk processor who uses the plastic container, the wholesaler or retail chain that buys it, and consumers who purchase the product at the store, would all pay some portion of a per-unit fee for the item. The same would be the case with plastic packaging, products like toothbrushes, disposable razors and on and on.

The proceeeds from this across the board, shared tax would go into a fund in the respective country. The fund would be used for plastics product and packaging innovation, creating new, alternatives to plastic packaging, and for the clean-up of the lands and the seas.

As we've said, ours is a big picture blueprint. It's designed to stimulate thought and further ideas. Obviously, god, or the devil, is in the details, which would have to be worked out on a country-by-country basis.

The time to start acting on all these fronts is now. That floating plastic refuse mass in the ocean is only going to get bigger. More seabirds and mammals will die. And we know that when other species are dying in large numers of a specific cause, its likely we can be affected similarly in time.

The world's landfills also are getting fuller. Taxpayers are the ones who will have to pay for new ones. Taxpayers also pay for the litter cleanup, and will eventually have to foot the bill for the ocean mess, unless a tax-sharing scheme like we described above is worked out so that industry shares in the costs and solutions as well as taxpayers. There will be many future costs that will have to be paid as well as scientists and others make further discoveries.

Further, we all know about oil, the primary ingredient in plastics. Its getter more expensive, people are killing for it, and it is running out. A greener solution to the plastics situation makes sense not only morally, but also ecologically, economically and health-wise. In fact, its ultimately a survival issue.

Issue Resources:

Below are links to a few stories and articles you might like to read in conjunction with our piece:

>Charles Moore. "Trashed: Across the Pacific Ocean, plastics, plastics everywhere." Natural History Magazine, November, 2003.
>Steve Connor. "Why plastic is the scourge of sea life." The Independent, February 5, 2008.

>Jane Black. "Plastic bags, Headed for a Meltdown." Washington Post, February 6, 2008.

>Terry Ross. "Paper or plastic question would be useful again." Arizona Sun, February 9, 2008.

>Tom Spears, "Truth and rumours muddy plastics debate." National Post, February 10, 2008.

>Aimee Neistat, "Bagging the plastic," Jerusalem Post, February 10, 2008.

Note: Graphic at top of page courtesy London Independent.

Green Memo: Innovative 'Bags Of Change' Uses Market-Based Loyalty Marketing Scheme to Encourage Green and Ethical Shopping Behavior

The Back-Story: Plastic Bag bans and legislation, reusable shopping bags, ethical retailing and ethical consumerism.

As we've discussed here often, the international movement to ban, tax and legislate against plastic grocery bag use at retail is blazing full steam ahead. The biggest news on the plastic bag ban front comes most recently from China. The world's most-populous country announced just last month it will ban the giving away by all retail stores of free, thin-plastic shopping bags later this year, shortly before the start of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, which are being held in China in August.

China's ban follows similar bans all over the world. In the U.S., the cities of San Francisco and Oakland, California have banned retail food stores over a certain square footage from using plastic grocery bags. (The San Francisco ban is in effect. The Oakland ban is currently being challenged in court.) Other cities and states throughout the U.S. are considering similar bans. States like California, New York and New Jersey have past laws which require supermarkets to place plastic grocery bag recycling bins in their stores and to sell reusable shopping tote bags in-store.

Many countries in Africa have banned the use of plastic shopping bags. A potential ban also is being discussed in the United Kingdom and in India, the second most-populous country in the world. In Australia and Canada, local governments have either banned plastic bags outright, are in the process of doing so, or are considering either taxing the bags' use, like Ireland is doing, or similar legislation.

Even food retailers are getting in on the banning (self-banning) of plastic grocery bags, which seldom get recycled and more often than not end-up being tossed into landfills, where they take decades to degrade. Whole Foods Market, Inc. announced recently it will stop using non-biodegradable plastic bags at all its stores in the U.S., Canada and the UK in April of this year, on Earth Day. Other retailers like German grocer Aldi charge customers extra if they want their purchases packaged in plastic bags in its UK and U.S. stores.

Trader Joe's, the U.S. specialty grocer owned by Aldi, doesn't offer plastic bags at all in its nearly 300 U.S. stores, and gives customers a discount for every reusable bag they use instead of having their groceries packaged in one of TJ's paper grocery bags. Most Trader Joe's stores have never offered plastic bags as an option. The retailer also was one of the first to sell reusable canvas bags and offer shoppers a discount for bringing them with them to shop.

Trader Joe's is today far from alone in offering incentives to shoppers for using reusable bags. This is a growing trend throughout the world. Just five years ago, it was difficult to find more than a handful of supermarkets that gave shoppers a discount if they brought their own bags (BYOB) to the store. Today, grocers across the board, from big-box discount stores, to upscale lifestyle food retailers, offer discounts of five -to- 10 cents per bag for BYOB and sell a variety of reusable shopping bags in their stores.

A Big Idea: Bags of Change. It's more than an anti-plastic bag approach. It's a pro-reusable bag, carrot without the stick, market-based incentive approach, with a loyalty marketing basis.

It's with reusable shopping bags that British company Bags of Change is creating change in the UK. And its using market-based methods to do so. The company has created a loyalty scheme in which shoppers can get a discount in over 50 stores (and growing) simply by using their organic hemp-cotton or latex tote bags rather than excepting a paper or plastic bag from the store for their purchases.

Further, as part of the loyalty program, shoppers also get extra discounts on locally-produced, organic and Fairtrade goods in the paticipating stores when they shop using one of Bags of Change's' reusable shopping tote bags.

Instead of focusing on sticks--laws, bans, taxes and the like--Bags of Change is taking a decidedly market-oriented approach by offering carrots in the form of discounts on goods at participating stores.

The company's goal is to get more people to use reusable bags regardless of whether or not plastic bags are legal, illegal, banned or not banned. Secondly, the green bag company wants to promote organic, local and Fairtrade shopping, along with the eco-friendly bags. As a result, their program is designed to reward and encourage ethical shopping behavior by offering economic incentives and appealing to UK shoppers' pocketbooks in addition to appealing to their hearts and minds.

Bags of Change, which was founded by school teacher Faith Simpson and researcher Dr. Hugh Willbourn, recently won the "Best Green Company" award in the 2007 Green England Green Awards, a major environmental competition designed to reward the "greenest" companies in the UK.

The loyalty scheme process is simple. Bags of change provides the buyers of its bags with a list of participating stores. The list is constantly updated on their website. Additionally, participating stores post signs in-store indicating they are part of the program. Shoppers just show the store clerk the tote bag to get their discount. It's a simple yet powerful market-based program. The company says its signing up more stores each week.

For the stores, the Bags of Change program provides them with a new group of shoppers who might not otherwise ever set foot in their stores. It's also a select group of shoppers, who by their very participation in the Bags of Change program have indicated a commitment to green and ethical shopping and retailers. These retailers benefit by associating with the loyalty program since in addition to the new business, they also get to position themselves as ethical retailers.

The Future Story: More market-based programs like Bags of Change, along with more retailer-based incentives, are needed to ensure proactive use of reusable shopping bags by shoppers.

One of the major problems with focusing on the plastic bag issue from only a legislative standpoint is that it does nothing to encourage positive behavior like convincing shoppers to use reusable shopping bags rather than paper bags, which remain an alternative in those places where plastic bags are being eliminated. Programs like Bags of Change are addressing that aspect using a positive, market-based approach.

We see food retailers creating similar programs. For example, instead of just giving customers five cents for every reusable bag they use, perhaps grocers who use store loyalty cards could offer a program where they give customers a credit for every reusable grocery bag they use instead of taking a paper or plastic store bag, in addition to the five or so cents per bag discount. When shoppers reach 25 or 50 credits, for example, they would get 5% off their total grocery order for that one time. Then they get to start banking the credits once again for next time. There are many similar, creative schemes that can be developed to encourage increased use of reusable shopping bags.

In other words, we believe market-based incentives are needed, along with laws, to ensure that over time the use of reusable shopping bags becomes the norm, rather than just a behavior practiced by a minority of "green" or ethical shoppers.

We like Bags of Change's approach in the UK, and look forward to seeing similar programs pop-up all over the world--along with innovative programs from retailers like the one we offered above, designed to eventually make shopper use of reusable shopping bags the norm rather than the exception. It's social, market-based marketing that's good for people, good for the earth, and good for the economic bottom-line as well.

Green Memo: Reusable Grocery Bags

A Stupid Bag: The reusable canvas grocery bag with an attitude

Start-up company A Stupid Bag has found a way to cut-through all the serious debate about using paper or plastic bags to package your groceries at the supermarket checkout. The company has introduced a line of four self-mocking, "eco-friendly" canvas grocery tote bags; each with a cheeky saying all it's own emblazoned on it.

The first bag embodies the company's name and motto as it's statement. Printed on the canvas bag in bold black letters is the simple phrase, "I'm Just a Stupid bag." This humble bag shows it isn't afraid to poke fun at itself. There's nothing "smart" about it.

The slogan on the second grocery tote speaks to both the bag line's simple design and reasonable price tag. It says proudly in bold black letters, "I'm a Very Cheap bag."

The third canvas grocery carrier--the" cheap bag's" naughty sister--states, "I'm A Cheap Shit bag." Not extremely creative, but it does scream CHEAP in a loud sort of way for those who aren't satisfied with a merely "cheap" tote.

The fourth and last bag kicks-up the humility and cheekiness (and foul language) quotients quite a bit. The message on this bag screams out, "I'm Just a F#*king bag." We wonder if a shopper might be asked to leave the supermarket with that one?

The tongue-in-cheek logo-bags are made in the USA from 100% unbleached canvas, according to a stupid person at A Stupid Bag. The lightweight bags are 15 x 15 in size and can be easily folded-up (perhaps a good idea with bag number four especially) when not packed with groceries.

Each canvas tote hold contents equal to two standard plastic grocery bags, the company says. Further, a company spokesperson says one tote can easily replace 700 plastic bags over the course of a year for a shopper who buys an average amount of groceries each week or month. (We did the math, and that's a reasonable estimate.)

All three bags in the line sell for $10.00 each. They're currently for sale only at the company's website: http://www.astupidbag.com/. However, the canvas tote line should also be available soon in stores in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

In addition to the canvas shopping bag line's green attributes, A Stupid Bag offers an economic analogy, to suggest owning and using their bags provides an economic benefit to shoppers as well.

The company sights the fact that at Whole Foods Market, Inc. stores, shoppers get a 10-cent per-bag discount for using their own reusable grocery tote. Therefore, since the canvas bags only cost $10.00 each, they pay for themselves after only 100 uses at a Whole Foods supermarket--or at other stores offering a similar discount. After the first 100 uses then, it's money in the bank until the canvas bag falls apart.

Let's also not forget the personal statement the reusable grocery bags make. For some shoppers, that's worth even more than the environmental and economic benefits the cheeky totes offer.

Increased consciousness about using plastic grocery bags is creating a market for all sorts of reusable shopping or grocery bags--from 99-cent synthetic carriers made from biodegradable materials like corn and sugar cane, to fancy, high-end shopping totes created and marketed by celebrity fashion designers.

A Stupid Bag has jumped right in the middle--and a little off to the side--of this market, creating a line of inexpensive reusable canvas bags with attitude. And, perhaps ironically, the "I am an F#*king bag" is currently sold out on the company's website. Supply and demand issues, we expect. We can't wait to see their line extensions.