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You are in: Home > > Wal-Mart Reusable “Green” Shopping Bags

Wal-Mart Reusable “Green” Shopping Bags

6 by LiveOAK Staff on February 12, 2008
Upgrade: $1(in store)

image Paper or Plastic? Neither... is displayed on the new reusable shopping bags from Wal-Mart. The bags cost $1 a piece and are available near the checkout area at the store. In the US, we throw away an estimated 100 billion plastic bags a year. Wal-Mart's new reusable bags are made from 85% recycled material (recycled polyethylene terephthalate or rPET) and should last long enough to replace 50 traditional plastic bags. When the bags wear out they can be returned to Wal-Mart to be recycled. This is part of a larger initiative Wal-Mart has been taking to become more "Green". Along with the reusable shopping bags, Wal-Mart is offering "Green" consumer products which include CFL light bulbs, organic milk, reduced packaging detergent, and extended life paper products.

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  • http://azrael.ismywebsite.com Peter B.

    $1? That’s outrageous. Here in the UK, you can buy bags like that for 10p, which is around 5 cents. They’ll also replace them for free if they break. In some of the classier stores (Marks & Spencers) they even give you these for free.

  • http://unsoughinput.com Alouette

    Well Peter B aren’t you pretentious? Sorry that in order to keep food costs lower for everyone retailers have to charge a little more for a bag someone can use over and over again or choose not to use if they don’t want.

  • Andrew

    This sort of brainwashing makes my blood boil.

    Let me explain my view. To make these bags we need to collect and sort the presently un-recycled plastic bags from depositories, supermarkets and local councils, then a big truck take the plastic to an oil buring container ship where the bags are sent the developing world, turned into a fibre using heat and beat technologies which are almost certainly from non-renewable energy sources- into the bag, and then we import them back to our country telling people that despite being made from plastic (albeit it recycled) and having been shipped across the globe to produce, as a consumer they’re buying responsibly and making a difference to the planet. RUBBISH.
    And the kicker? THEN customers who already own one of these bags get to the checkout only to be offered another one because they’ve left the bags they already have in the car.
    Please keep using paper, plant more trees then reuse, don’t recycle the paper into mushroom farms (eat less meat) or paper-crete. Or if you need a tote bag, buy a canvas one. Its a one off expense and you can get a design you like rather than be an advert for a multinational corporation.

    http://www.livinginpaper.com/

  • Andrew

    This sort of brainwashing makes my blood boil.

    Let me explain my view. To make these bags we need to collect and sort the presently un-recycled plastic bags from depositories, supermarkets and local councils, then a big truck take the plastic to an oil burning container ship where the bags are sent the developing world, turned into the “fibre” using heat and beat technologies, which are almost certainly from non-renewable energy sources, into the bag. Then we import them back to our country telling people that despite being made from plastic (albeit it recycled) and having been shipped across the globe to produce, as a consumer they’re buying responsibly and making a difference to the planet. RUBBISH.
    And the kicker? THEN customers who already own one of these bags get to the checkout only to be offered another one because they’ve left the bags they already have in the car.
    Please keep using paper, plant more trees then reuse, don’t recycle the paper into mushroom farms (eat less meat) or paper-crete. Or if you need a tote bag, buy a canvas one. Its a one off expense and you can get a design you like rather than be an advert for a multinational corporation.
    N.B I have no association with the website below, I admire the innovation
    http://www.livinginpaper.com/

  • http://elastictrashliner.com/Accumulating Keith

    Title: Too Many Shopping Bags? Put Them To Good Use!

    I’ve went to this site and thought that they had a pretty good idea. It would only work if everyone pitches in that shops at Wal-Mart. Read and watch their video at elastictrashliner.com/Accumulating you’ll be suprise on what they did.

  • Sandra

    Even though I feel like the reusable bags are a great idea I think we should be careful about how your customers acquire their reusable bags. My biggest concern is for the elderly people that barely draw $500 Social Security. If they have to buy ten or more bags in the beginning and replacements all along this could have an effect on how much they spend for groceries and medicines.

    Now while Walmart is doing a good thing they are also gaining a very large profit by not having the expense of purchasing plastic bags.

    Walmart customers are very loyal and I hope that Walmart would take advantage of this time to reward their customers with a complementary amount of reusable bags in the transition period.

    You would not believe all of the comments that I have heard about what kind of bags and containers that people would take to the store to buy groceries