Whole Foods isn’t the only place offering reusable shopping bags. Seems you can get them everywhere now. In fact, Kroger’s Fred Meyer chain took out full page ads recently touting their new eco-friendly bags.
Target gives 5% of their profits to charities, and until recently has done little to tout it other than a sign in their store or a section in their annual report. To most people, Target is a company that is doing good and doing well.
I was pleased when I noticed their “10 Ways to Reuse Your Plastic Bag” messaging. It was creative, and I was rewarded for paying attention. But it made me wonder, “Where are their fabric bags?” and “Can they do more?” and “Why the hell didn’t I remember my fabric bag?” Ahhhh. I think I get it now.
Nice job, Target.
This response has nothing to do with Target’s commitment to the environment, but last night I stopped off at a chain grocery store to pick up a few items. Nothing special, just items for dinner and kids lunches. I didn’t bring my own bags, or for that matter did I get the opportunity to ask for paper bags as I was deep in thought about cracking open the bottle of wine I purchased.
So here is the unfortunate packing information regarding this trip:
19 items purchased
Three items (soft drink and beer cases) did not warrant a bag.
They packed the balance of 16 items in 9 plastic bags!!!!!
bottle of wine = one bag
frozen pizza = one bag
avocado, lettuce and tomatoes = one bag
paperback book and orange juice = one bag
half gallon milk= one bag
another half gallon milk= one bag
2 boxes of breakfast cereal =one bag
5 frozen entrees =one bag
Why even bother putting the items in a bag if you are only putting one item in it. I prefer paper bags when I shop as we reuse these for our trash cans and then recycle in the paper bin. When I request paper bags they usually pack many items in them…not one or two items.
This is not the first time I have noticed the plastic bag abuse phenomenom…just the first time I’ve noted it on a blog.
There has to be a better way.
Oh, and don’t get me started on the trend of 3 foot long receipts from many retailers now!
Short answer to my “where are the fabric bags?” question has been answered. They are on their way: http://www.sustainableisgood.com/blog/2008/01/target-reusable.html