A few months ago I walked into our nearby grocery store, the beloved South Carolina favorite Piggly Wiggly, and picked up some milk and eggs. At the checkout counter, the grocery bagger put my milk in one plastic bag and my eggs in another. Two items. Two bags. I immediately asked for the manager not because I am a raving lunatic but simply because I can’t take it anymore. Everytime I’m at the store — even the so-called all-natural stores like Earth Fare and Whole Foods, two of my favorites — I get about 200% more bags than is actually needed to do the job.

Skipping back a couple of years when my wife (then fiance) was living in London, each trip to the Safeway or Sainsburys was an adventure. See, stores across the pond charge for plastic bags. Yes, customes actually pay for them. So it becomes somewhat of a game at the checkout counter: how many items can I fit a single plastic bag so I don’t have to buy another one? At 10p per bag, the costs add up. We beat the system and still are today by using canvas boat totes — perfect for lugging around all the groceries you can carry.

Jump back to me at the manager’s counter at the local Pig. When I told her of my adventures in England, and asked her if her bosses would entertain the thought of reducing plastic bag usage or even consider charging customers for them, she stared back in amazement. I am of the belief The Pig would benefit in three glorious ways:

1. They’d reduce the amount of waste they’re responsible for every day
2. They’d save money by reducing the amount they spend on plastic bags
3. They’d be doing the world a favor

But instead of listening to my seemlingly brilliant business model for The Pig, she actually laughed at me and said, “no way, my boss would never go for that. Have a good mornin’, sir.” I think she was still trying to figure out what “England” is.

So, here we are today with news that the city of San Francisco has voted to ban plastic bags. A month ago, Ikea said it’s going to charge $0.05 per bag at their stores.

No, I can’t take the credit for giving these two the idea, but what will it take for other stores to get on board? And more importantly, how long will it take?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 at 10 am and is filed under environment, markhealey, people, save the planet.