January 22nd, 2008

By John DeFore

Whole Foods announced today that it will stop making plastic bags available at checkout lines — aiming to use up existing stock quickly enough to be completely plastic-free by Earth Day, April 22.

This announcement, which applies to all 270 Whole Foods stores, follows a test run of the Bring Your Own Bag campaign in the company’s home town, Austin, Texas. During the Austin run, company spokesperson Kate Lowery says that customer response has been overwhelmingly positive. Some reports have recounted anecdotes about exceptions, like a disgruntled customer who liked to use Whole Foods plastic bags for household garbage, but according to Lowery: “The report that I got last night from the leadership at the store — they’re saying it’s all positive.”

The company intends to track the number of customers with reusable bags (since it offers a small discount for every customer-owned bag, tallying the number won’t be too difficult), and Lowery says they’ll be “waiting on those results.” She did offer some early examples of how consumer behavior is shifting toward greener practices:

• In San Francisco, where the city government banned plastic grocery bags, “we know that 20 percent of our shoppers are bringing in their reusables.”
• Today, an Atlanta location found that between opening and 1 pm of the program’s first day, “340 customers used about 1,100 reusable bags.”
• In Austin, “we’ve sold 10,000 of the Better Bags [the 99-cent tote made largely of recycled plastic bottles] in a month.”

Progress is slower on another plastic front — the bags the company (like all major grocery chains) still uses in its bulk, produce, and seafood departments. While Lowery says “we’ve started a task force” on that issue, “to find some eco-friendly options that work well for food safety and freshness,” no candidates have yet emerged. “Efficacy is key,” she says, explaining the difficulty of finding options that meet specialized needs, “but it’s something we’re committed to.”