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Whole Foods Bans Plastic Bags
by
findingDulcinea Staff
In an effort to curb pollution, the grocery store chain announces it will no longer use disposable plastic bags. Instead, it will offer customers paper and reusable bags.
30-Second Summary
On Jan. 22, Whole Foods announced that it plans to end the use of disposable plastic grocery bags in all of its 270 stores by April 22, 2008—Earth Day.
Whole Foods spokeswoman Robin Burton explained why the company has made the change: "We're trying to act out one of our core values, which is supporting and caring for our communities and environment."
On its Web site, Whole Foods provides a Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB) section that explains the environmental impact of the change.
“It can take more than a thousand years for a disposable plastic bag to break down in a landfill. Most reusable bags can be used thousands of times and there are so many reusable bag options,” the site reads.
However, much of the waste that comes from the 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps Americans consume each year never makes it to the landfill. Instead it ends up contributing to the glut of trash that finds its way into the oceans.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a mass of waste twice the size of Texas floating in the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Hawaii. Oceanographers estimate that 80 percent of the patch consists of plastics.
Whole Foods spokeswoman Robin Burton explained why the company has made the change: "We're trying to act out one of our core values, which is supporting and caring for our communities and environment."
On its Web site, Whole Foods provides a Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB) section that explains the environmental impact of the change.
“It can take more than a thousand years for a disposable plastic bag to break down in a landfill. Most reusable bags can be used thousands of times and there are so many reusable bag options,” the site reads.
However, much of the waste that comes from the 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps Americans consume each year never makes it to the landfill. Instead it ends up contributing to the glut of trash that finds its way into the oceans.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a mass of waste twice the size of Texas floating in the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Hawaii. Oceanographers estimate that 80 percent of the patch consists of plastics.
Headline Link: ‘Whole Foods Trashes Plastic Bags’
In an effort to prevent pollution from plastic bags, Whole Foods has announced it will no longer use the bags and will instead offer paper or reusable bags. In addition, the chain is giving away 50,000 reusable bags to customers in an effort to encourage the change. Whole Foods spokeswoman Robin Burton explains the company’s move: "We're trying to act out one of our core values, which is supporting and caring for our communities and environment."
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune
Background: Whole Foods’ reasons
According to its Jan. 22 press release, Whole Foods will end the use of disposable plastic grocery bags in all of its 270 stores by April 22, 2008—Earth Day.
Source: PRNewswire
Whole Foods’ Web site features a Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB) section that offers a “thousand reasons” why the store is making this change. “It can take more than a thousand years for a disposable plastic bag to break down in a landfill. Most reusable bags can be used thousands of times and there are so many reusable bag options,” the site reads.
Source: Whole Foods
Related Topics: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch; NYC considers recycling bags
A mass of trash twice the size of Texas is floating in the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Hawaii. Oceanographers call it the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and estimates put the flotsam’s weight at around 3.5 million tons—80 percent of which consists of plastics.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
On Nov. 8, 2007, findingDulcinea reported that the New York City Council put forward legislation mandating that large grocery stores recycle plastic bags, putting the city at the forefront of a growing movement to curb the harmful environmental effects of petroleum-based plastics.
Source: findingDulcinea.com
Reference: Plastic bag consumption figures
According to the Web site Reusablebags.com, it is estimated that the world consumes between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags every year, which add up to over 1 million bags per minute. The site goes on to quote an Environmental Protection Agency figure that estimates the United States consumes over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps each year.
Source: ReusableBags.com
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