Weaver Street is proposing to eliminate single-use plastic and paper bags in favor of other bag options. Our goal: 100% reusable bags in 2019! Please send us feedback by email (feedback@weaverstreetmarket.coop) or at the displays in our stores (later this week).
Why switch to reusable bags?
Single-use plastic bags are a poor option:
They create litter and pollute the ocean- They don’t degrade so they persist in the environment for years
- The typical Weaver Street shopper needs to use over 150 per year
Paper bags are also a poor option:
- They have 43 times the environmental impact and 4 times the global warming impact of a plastic bag, according to the Danish Ministry of Environment and Food*
- They are not sturdy enough to be reused much.
Changing to 100% reusable bags is a great opportunity to make a meaningful difference:
- Climate change creates the urgency to take bold steps
- It’s an opportunity for collective action
Proposed bag options for 2019
- Bring your own bag
- The Weaver Bag—at a new low price:
- Priced below cost at $1 to encourage use; insulated version for only $2
- Sturdy enough to be reused hundreds of times
- Made of 100% recycled PET
- Better environmental choice than single-use plastic bags if reused just 11 times; better global warming choice if reused 84 times, according to the Danish report
The “Bring It Back Sack”—a convenient returnable option when you forget your bag or make a spur-of-the-moment purchase:
- Purchase for 15 cents or use free from the “returned bag stash”
- Not as bulky as the Weaver Bag, making it easy to fold and carry with you
- After using, contribute to the “returned bag stash” for others to use
- Sturdy enough to reuse 100 times
- Made from at least 90% recycled PET
- Recyclable at two Orange County drop-off centers (Eubanks and Walnut Grove) when it wears out, or return to us and the company will use it to make new bags
- Better environmental choice than single-use plastic bags if reused twice; better global warming choice if reused four times
(This type of bag is used in most cities that have banned single use bags.)
We’d love to hear your feedback on the reusable bag proposal. There are displays in stores (coming later this week), or you can email us at feedback@weaverstreetmarket.coop.
*Life Assessment of Grocery Carrier Bags, Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark, February 2018