Most reusable grocery store bags pay for themselves over time
Published: Sunday, May 18, 2008
From the Press of AC:
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/106/story/161343.html

ShopRite supermarkets this week increased their modest reward to customers who bring their own shopping bags - if those bags are reuseable.
ShopRites had been giving customers 2 cents for each bag used, whether they were paper, plastic or cloth, as long as they brought them to the store.

Now, if you merely bring back the paper or plastic bags grocers ordinarily use to pack your order, you still get 2 cents each.

But if you bring bags made from recycled fabric, recycled and woven plastic, or canvas, you get a 5 cents-per-bag credit.

As economists like to say, that's a 300 percent increase.

Still small change, of course, but the bag credit has never been about money, just as using fewer plastic and paper bags is only partly about benefiting the environment.
The best reason to bring your own bags is that you can use much better bags.

It's not hard to outperform handout plastic and paper bags. They rip easily, are less comfortable to carry and don't provide much protection for your ever-more precious groceries.

I like canvas bags. I can load them with cans, sweating cold drinks, even sharp objects, and they never tear or break.

The handles are wide and comfortable, they can be tossed into the wash when they get dirty, and they're useful for many other purposes such as gathering drinks and snacks for a car trip.

Unfortunately, canvas bags are now the hardest to find. I have several from the now-closed SuperFresh in Northfield, and several more from Wegman's - the nearest of which is on the other side of the state.

Acme used to offer a fine canvas bag much like the ones from SuperFresh, and I've got one of those, too. But now they only have the recycled fabric bags - good, but not as big, strong or flexible.

The preferred price point on reusable bags seems to be $1. Every store has reusable bags for that price.

At 5 cents credit per use, using them four times per month, the ShopRite credit would pay for the bags in just five months.

Genuardi's gives a 4-cent-per-bag credit, regardless of what kind of bag you bring. Pathmark gives 2 cents per bag. Acme doesn't give you anything for bringing your own bags, but an Acme manager said it's only a matter of time before it implements such a program.

Canvas bags, if you can find them, run about $3 per bag.

Pathmark has a larger bag from the Elizabeth Haub Foundation, a 40-year-old environmental organization, made from recyclable woven polypropylene. They have colorful images of wildlife on them, and they're also only 99 cents each.

With stores eventually refunding the costs of the bags and then some, it can't get much easier to have better quality bags to use.

Oh, yeah ... it also reduces litter, waste and energy use.

To e-mail Kevin Post at The Press:

KPost@pressofac.com

REUSABLE BAG RATES

ShopRite

Credit: 5 cents for reusable bag, 2 cents for plastic, paper
Bags: Earthwise recycled fabric 99 cents; ShopRite logo 99 cents; larger Earthwise $1.29

Pathmark

Credit: 2 cents per bag
Bags: Large Elizabeth Haub Foundation woven polypropylene 99 cents; Pathmark logo recycled fabric 99 cents

Genuardi's

Credit: 4 cents per bag
Bags: Large Safeway logo recycled fabric 99 cents

Acme

Credit: none
Bags: Acme pink logo recycled fabric $1, portion goes to breast-cancer research