Whole Foods Market ditches plastic bags

Whole Foods Market, the organic foods supermarket has announced that it will be ending the use of disposable plastic bags at the checkouts in all of its 270 stores in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Whole Foods Market aims for all of its stores to be plastic bag-free by Earth Day on April 22nd 2008.

“Central to Whole Foods Market’s core values is caring for our communities and the environment, and this includes adopting wise environmental practices,” said A.C. Gallo, co-president and chief operating officer for Whole Foods Market. “More and more cities and countries are beginning to place serious restrictions on single-use plastic shopping bags since they don’t break down in our landfills, can harm nature by clogging waterways and endangering wildlife, and litter our roadsides. Together with our shoppers, our gift to the planet this Earth Day will be reducing our environmental impact as we estimate we will keep 100 million new plastic grocery bags out of our environment between Earth Day and the end of this year alone.”

Whole Foods Market is the first U.S. supermarket to commit to completely eliminating disposable plastic grocery bags in order to help protect the environment and conserve resources. “Doing away with plastic grocery bags won't just help protect marine life, it's a key move in shifting us away from a 'consume-and-dispose' mentality," says Lisa Mastny, editor of the Worldwatch Institute report Oceans in Peril. “Disposable plastic bags can linger in the environment for more than 1,000 years and are the major debris item found on the seabed, especially near the coast.”

“During our International Coastal Cleanup each year, our volunteers find hundreds of thousands of bags on beaches and in the ocean posing a threat to birds, turtles and other marine life. As people continue to learn more about the impact their lifestyle has on the environment, we find they are looking for personal solutions to global problems,” said Laura Capps, senior vice president of communications and outreach with Ocean Conservancy. “We applaud Whole Foods Market for encouraging their customers to bring re-usable bags when shopping and for making better stewardship of our environment a part of their everyday lives.”

Beginning immediately, each store within the company will work on depleting stocks of disposable plastic grocery bags at the checkouts and will help raise awareness about the benefits of reusable bags. Over the next three months, stores will reduce plastic grocery bag inventories and increase selections of reusable bags for purchase. Whole Foods Market will continue to offer an environmentally sensitive option when needed – 100 percent recycled paper grocery bags.

Discontinuing disposable plastic grocery bags at the checkouts is another step in the company’s ongoing effort to provide more Earth-friendly bags and containers in its stores. Recently, Whole Foods Market stores began using all-natural fibre packaging at its salad and food bars. The fibres for the new containers come from plants that are cultivated or grow wild and are harvested annually.

“We realize there are many more steps to take, and we recognize it’s an ongoing process to provide as much Earth-friendly packaging as possible,” said Gallo. “We will continue to evaluate each department within our stores as we seek to continually improve.”