Jul 11, 2008 4:00 pm US/Eastern
Green Scene: The Hot Bag is Reusable
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
Grocery stores are pushing their customers to go green before they buy their next bottle of milk or pound of beef. As CBS 3 anchor Angela Russell reports, the reusable bag is the new hot accessory.
One of the hottest grocery products this year isn't meant for the kitchen or the fridge. It's meant for your cart!
"I like them a lot, plus, we're doing something good," said one shopper.
Good because shoppers use millions of disposable plastic bags each year. A lot end up in the trash.
Now grocery stores and other retailers are selling millions of reusable bags.
"They hold a lot more than what a plastic bag would hold," said Carl Curtiss of Wegmans.
Wegmans has already sold more than a million of these black bags, and they don't require double-bagging.
"Some people might throw just a turkey in there," said Curtiss. "It will hold a turkey, no problem."
At local Super Fresh stores, they've also crossed the million bag mark.
Their colorful bags are made of recycled plastic with a reinforced polymer.
Plus, part of the proceeds of each 99 cent bag goes to environmental causes.
"You hear so much about the environment," said shopper Abby McMackin, "and it's hard to know what it is that we can do as an individual person."
But buying a reusable bag is easy. So is recycling plastic bags you already have.
"It's actually cut down the amount of product that's going to landfills," said Chuck McConney, district manager for Super Fresh.
The bags are so popular, Super Fresh and its parent company are asking customers for photos of their own bags and giving away up to $1,000 in groceries.
Now you just have to remember to reuse!
A few communities have banned plastic bags, something plastic bag companies are fighting. An attorney for a plastic bags group said, paper bags actually use more energy than plastic. He says, reusing any kind of plastic bag is the way to go.
RELATED LINKS:
Reusable bag photo contest sponsored by Super Fresh
Sustainability At Wegmans
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