NEWS – A Day Without a Bag in Santa Monica
by on Dec 22, 2011
Heal the Bay’s “A Day without a Bag” day was held on December 15, 2011 in Santa Monica, with retailers joining the efforts to promote the use of reusable bags. In its fifth year running, the campaign is meant to be a “holiday gift to the environment”.
The question about this campaign is whether or not it will in fact encourage shoppers to change their daily habits and switch to reusable (and more earth friendly) shopping bags. A question has also been raised as to whether or not a ban on disposable bags should be put into place in the area. If consumers and retailers can join forces and eliminate the use of plastic bags for one day – during the holiday shopping season, none the less – could they not continue to do the same year round?
As a sign of their participation, 99 Cent Only Stores aimed to give away over 9999 reusable bags today to customers with a minimum purchase of $29.99. They also gave volunteers of Heal the Bay 1000 bags to distribute at various public sites throughout L.A. County. 99 Cent Only Stores currently operate 291 retail locations. More than half of the company’s sales coming from food and beverages; including fruits and vegetables, dairy, deli and frozen foods, along with organic and gourmet foods.