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Ready? Set? Bag Those Reusable Shopping Bags!

Green Issues

reusable_grocery_bagger_championshipsNow’s the time of year that grocery stores all over the country are digging deep to find its state’s best grocery bagger to represent it at the U.S. Best Bagger National Championship, held in February each year. State champs rise from huge chains and family-owned stores in every corner of the United States.

The proper bagging of groceries is an important part of the operation of a successful retail grocery business, and front-end employees have a major effect on how well a retailer serves the customer. This national competition is the culmination of contests all across the country.

The 2010 Best Bagger National Championship was markedly different: the event switched from paper and plastic to reusable grocery bags. This change was due to the popularity of reusable bags around the country.

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Turn Your Winter Green with Printed Reusable Bags

Promotion Ideas, Reusable Bag Tips,

It’s a great time to start planning for winter fundraisers, promotions and holiday gifting. Here are some ideas on how to use custom printed reusable grocery bags to green Mother Earth through the New Year. earth-day

Jumpstart retail sales by having customized reusable bags for sale (or free with purchase) in your store. Shoppers can use them to carry holiday gifts, and you can create an incentive to shop in your store with a reusable bag promotion. Try offering a percentage off when customers bring in your reusable bag, or offer a free reusable bag custom printed with your logo for a sale over a certain dollar amount.

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Best-selling Reusable Bags On Sale Through End of Year

Bulletin Bag Products, Promotion Ideas, , , , ,

If you’re reading this, you probably already know that reusable bags are popping up everywhere as an eco-friendly marketing vehicle. What better way to increase awareness of your organization than to put your branding on reusable grocery bags for everyone to see…over and over and over again?

So, if you’ve been on the fence about purchasing custom printed reusable grocery bags, we have the perfect opportunity for you: our two most popular reusable bags, the Big Thunder and Little Thunder, are on sale for the remainder of 2010! Made from durable, 100 GSM polypropylene, they feature wrap-around handles and roomy gussets (with bottom inserts for extra stability), and come in nine popular colors.

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Reusable Bag Day Signals Reusable Bags Are Here To Stay

Green Issues, Plastic Bag Bans,

maui2The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Philippines has proclaimed every Wednesday as “Reusable Bag Day”. The move is meant to encourage the public to return to basics, to move away from their wasteful habits and help prevent environmental problems.

The announcement comes on the heels of a government-signed agreement with the Earthday Network Philippines and 12 supermarket chains to help reduce the use of plastic bags in the country. As part of Reusable Bag Day, no free plastic bags will be given to customers. Also expressing an interest in joining the government’s efforts are plastics manufacturers in that country.

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Plastic Bag Reduction Strategies Are Working

Green Issues, Plastic Bag Bans

Supermarket chain efforts to reduce paper and plastic bag distribution are working—and the numbers are starting to speak for themselves.

Publix Super Markets estimates a daily paper and plastic bag reduction of more than one million per day since it launched its reusable bag initiatives in 2007. Recently, the chain announced the number of bags it’s saved since mid 2007 has surpassed the 1 billion mark!

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the Massachusetts Food Association has announced a 25 percent reduction in the number of disposable paper and plastic shopping bags used since 2007 at 12 supermarket chains, including 384 stores. This is well on the way to the goal of a reduction of at least 33 percent by 2013.

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Maine’s Efforts to Reduce Plastic Bag Use

Green Issues,

Ban On Plastic Grocery Bags Gaining MomentumSome states are considering (or have enacted) bans on plastic bags, but in Maine, environmentalists and retailers are working together to encourage the use of reusable bags—voluntarily.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine is participating in a voluntary effort by retailers to encourage Mainers to use reusable bags instead of carrying home their groceries in throw away plastic bags. Also on board for the voluntary effort instead of an outright ban or tax is the Maine State Chamber of Commerce.  A plastic bag ban was under consideration in committee, as were taxes or fees on the throw away bags, but lawmakers chose a voluntary effort, and a hard goal of reducing plastic bag use by at least a third by 2013.

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Reusable Bags Are Tops at Trade Shows!

Bulletin Bag Products, Promotion Ideas, ,

According to a recent study by Nexus Collections, reusable bags are the most effective way to promote your brand at a conference or event. Twenty-three percent of respondents selected conference bags as the promotional item that created the biggest exposure.

bag presser005Longevity may have a lot to do with it: by investing in reusable bags as tradeshow giveaways, you gain loads of exposure at the event—not to mention the residual effect by the bags’ reuse after the conference is over. Your logo or message on a custom printed reusable bag is akin to a walking billboard, providing impressions every time it’s used.

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Don’t Panic…Just Clean Your Reusable Grocery Bags

Green Issues, Reusable Bag Tips

A recent study funded by the American Chemistry Council found that nearly every reusable bag examined for bacteria contained bugs, coliform bacteria (suggesting raw-meat or uncooked-food contamination) or E. coli. However, the study didn’t specify which strains of E. coli were found—many of which are harmless. And don’t forget that the American Chemistry Council represents plastic bag makers, and opposes a California Bill that would ban single-use plastic bags.reusable_bagWhat is slightly more annoying (dare we say misleading?) about this study, and the buzz surrounding it, is that if you conduct a similar study of kitchens, refrigerators, sponges, or dish towels, we’re sure you’d find equally alarming results. Plus, with the abundance of over-packaged grocery store items, what are the chances that these germs are actually going come in contact with your food or your family? Regardless of the study’s motives, it does stress an important reminder: clean your reusable grocery bags regularly.

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The Financial Burden of Single-use Plastic Bags

Green Issues,

You’ve read the staggering statistics on the environmental ramifications of single-use plastic and paper bags. But, have you stopped to consider how much those “free” checkout bags actually cost you? Maybe you should. Plastic bags cost US consumers approximately $4 billion dollars in increased good costs per year. Stores typically pay 2 to 5 cents per plastic bag. Business aren’t spending that money for shopper convenience—they’re burying that cost in the price of each product, adding up to as much as $18 per person, per year (ecovote.org).

plastic-bags1An estimated 8 billion plastic bags enter the US waste stream per year, and worldwide over 200,000 plastic bags are dumped into landfills every HOUR (planetark.com). A typical landfill costs over $20 million to build and millions of dollars per year to maintain.  Nearly all of this money comes from taxpayers—over $750 million per year in California alone!

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What to Do With Old Reusable Bags? Make Furniture!

Green Issues,

Here’s a new spin on a reduce, reuse, and recycle contest. Coles Supermarkets in Australia is giving primary schools the chance to win furniture—while encouraging children to be environmentally friendly.

Coles Supermarkets are collecting old and unwanted reusable shopping bags for recycling as part of a two-week bag drive. The chain will accept any polypropylene bags—including shopping bags from other retailers and give-away bags from conferences and exhibitions.

The collected bags will be recycled into outdoor furniture. Primary schools can enter to win the unique furniture by describing what the school is doing to help the environment. The best 100 examples of school recycling and reuse will receive outdoor furniture made from reusable grocery bags.

This initiative is a way to avoid creating more landfill rubbish. By recovering the plastic and turning it into outdoor furniture for primary schools, supporters are hoping future generations of youth will see the benefits of recycling first hand.

We love the idea of program and would love to see something similar in the US. Our only question is…why is the program only two weeks long? It should be an ongoing, never ending initiative—worldwide.