"Paper or plastic?" has become a question of the past at Whole Foods Market.
Whole Foods will soon be the first U.S. grocery chain to completely eliminate plastic grocery bags from checkout lines in all of its 270 stores.
Each location has already started depleting stocks of disposable bags and the company's goal is to be 100 percent plastic bag-free by Earth Day, April 22.
"Whole Foods Market believes that taking care of the environment is everyone's responsibility," says Whole Foods' Midwest representative Kate Klotz. "As the Environmental Protection Agency's green power partner of the year the last two years, we intend to lead by example. This includes the green elements that each of our new stores have, the fact that our Midwest distribution trucks run on biodiesel fuel, and that we needed to set an example in terms of corporate plastic use."
Whole Foods has encouraged shoppers to bring their own bags for years by offering a refund of either five or 10 cents at the checkouts, depending on the store. The natural and organic food store also sells different types of reusable bags, ranging from canvas to its new "A Better Bag," a large tote made from 80 percent recycled plastic bottles. The "Better Bag" sells for 99 cents, but quickly pays for itself with the B.Y.O.B. incentive program.
Although Whole Foods hopes to inspire shoppers to adopt the reusable bag mindset, the grocer will continue to offer a paper bag option. Last year Whole Foods Market became the only food retailer in North America to offer 100 percent recyclable paper grocery bags made with 100 percent recycled fiber content. It also offers biodegradable containers at its salad and prepared foods bars.
According to studies done by the EPA, plastic shopping bags take more than 1,000 years to break down in a landfill. Since disposable bags were introduced in the 1970s, polymers of every bag ever made still exist and will be here for a long time.
Last year San Francisco was the first U.S. city to pass a ban on single-use bags in grocery and drug stores, and other cities such as Santa Monica, Calif., New Haven, Conn., Annapolis, Md. and Portland, Ore., are considering similar restrictions, since disposable bags do not break down efficiently in landfills, clog waterways, endanger wildlife and litter roadsides (and trees). The environmental impact is massive.
"One hundred billion bags are put into the environment each year, with only an estimated six percent recycled," Klotz says. "We anticipate that we'll save 100 million bags ... from April 22 until the end of 2008."
According to A.C. Gallo, co-president and chief operating officer of Whole Foods Market, the chain did test runs in San Francisco, Toronto and Austin, Texas.
"Customers have overwhelmingly supported the plastic bag ban initiated by Whole Foods Market in these cities and applauded the progressive stance the stores have taken. Additionally, our team members are excited and passionate about taking this initiative, and we're finding it's created a great forum for discussion and awareness at the checkout counters."
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
