At more grocers locally, environmentalism's in bag
23.04.2008 10:01
Shopping
- Source: toledoblade.com
As consumers nationwide have become more environmentally conscious, shoppers in the Toledo area increasingly are being offered another option for bagging their purchases. Paper? Plastic? Or cloth reusable? In the last year, many retailers have begun selling low-cost cloth bags that customers can reuse each time they shop. Some stores, like Aldi, which is owned by a German company, have been selling such bags for years. Others, like Kroger, Wal-Mart, and Meijer began six months to a year ago offering reusable bags at a cost of about $1 for an ordinary bag and $1 to $3 for an insulated bag. Still others started offering low-cost bags only recently. "There are tons of them going out our door. People really like them," said Bob Anteau, owner of Schorling's Five-Star Market in Toledo. He carried heavy-duty recyclable bags, but few of them sold. About six weeks ago, he added a line of low-cost bags, at a price of four for $5, and they have been selling briskly, Mr. Anteau said. Meijer, Kroger, and Wal-Mart began offering $1 reusable bags last fall. "They've flown off the shelves. We've sold over a million of them and are selling about 40,000 a week," said Frank Guglielmi, a spokesman for Meijer, in Grand Rapids, Mich. "It's been a challenge keeping them in stock." However, for all the sales, the retailer has not noticed any decreased costs for the paper or plastic bags it provides, Mr. Guglielmi said. Giant Eagle began selling $1 reusable bags since November, 2006, and has sold several hundred thousand, spokesman Dan Donovan said. It is unknown whether the reusables have offset plastic bags they are meant to replace, but Giant Eagle, like other retailers, has begun putting recycling bins outside its stores. Last year, the chain recycled more than 2.5 million pounds of film plastic, Mr. Donovan said. Vince Cobb, of Chicago, who runs a Web site, Reusablebags.com, that sells reusable bags and advocates for reduced use of plastic bags, said the cloth bag concept took off one year ago. "Earth Day 2007 was the moment that it kind of hit mainstream consciousness in a big way," he said yesterday, Earth Day 2008. Reusable bags are among the top 10 things people could do to help the environment, he added. He suggests tiny rebates to customers who use the bags, and charging a little more to those who don't. "Certain retailers are going to have to lead the way on that," he said. "But once it becomes more commonplace, I think we'd see other retailers take it on." Several retailers used yesterday's Earth Day observation to promote the reusable bags. Wal-Mart gave away over 1 million green cloth bags over the weekend as part of such a promotion. In October, Kroger offered green and pink bags to tie recycling with breast cancer research. "The response was really good. People like to use these bags not just for groceries, but for other things," said spokesman Beth Wilkin. Retail consultant Bill Bishop, of Chicago, said recent studies have shown that customers are growing more concerned about the environment, and retailers are responding. Brands like Clorox are introducing "green" lines of products. Supermarkets "want to demonstrate that they also hear and are sensitive to this issue and are offering options that shoppers can take to be more Earth-friendly," Mr. Bishop said. "Personally, I think this is going to be a huge phenomenon … and it's now clear that there are some economic concerns for retailers for either acting or not acting on those issues." Contact Jon Chavez at:
jchavez@theblade.com
or 419-724-6128.
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