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On Earth Day this year, Ashland Food Co-op launched an ambitious effortto reduce the use of new, large paper and plastic bags by charging 10¢for them at checkout.
A group of owners brought the bag charge idea to Co-op management andwe conducted an on line owner survey in which over 70% of respondentsapproved of the charge.
In instituting the program on a trail basis, we set a goal ofdecreasing the use of new disposable grocery bags by 50% this year.
In July, our Co-op’s management team reviewed the program’seffectiveness and found that we had reduced our new bag usage by over75%, well above our stated goal. As a result, the Co-op has decided tocontinue the 10¢ new bag charge indefinitely.
All proceeds from the bag charge are used to reduce the price of thereusable bags we sell. The prices on those bags fluctuate depending onthe number of dimes that are collected for disposable bags. The moneycollected is steadily going down, telling us that reusable bag usage issteadily increasing.
The intent of this program is to:
- Encourage customers to bring reusable bags for every shopping trip;
- Involve customers in our effort to decrease our environmental impact, and;
- Support the global trend of reducing the use of disposable bags.
A hearty ‘thank you” goes to everyone who has helped make this program more successful than we ever imagined.
We welcome your feedback at contact@ashlandfood.coop
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