Cloth or plasic?

Taking your own grocery bag to the store with you to shop is a traditional practice that in the recent past has come back into favor. Target and CVS are now joining the companies that reward their clients monetarily for not using plastic sacks. In an article from CNBC it is noted that smaller companies have been rewarding their customers for a while now when they bring in their own shopping bags, but having large companies doing the same thing has brought about new technology. While Target is relying on giving each customer a nickel off of their bill for each bag that they bring in themselves, CVS has a tag that can be bought for a dollar and attached to the reusable bag. Each time a shopper goes into CVS, they swipe their tag and for each fourth visit they receive a $1 Extra Care Buck that will be printed on their receipt and used at their next visit.
Encouraging shoppers with monetary incentives to practice the three "R's" (reduce, reuse, and recycle) is not a new thing, smaller companies such as Whole Foods Inc. and Shop & Shop have been rewarding their customers for over a year. Whole Foods Inc. was quoted as saying that their banning plastic bags from their stores have saved over 150 million plastic bags from the landfills, and the use of reusable bags from home has tripled. Whether the choice of reusable bags over new plastic ones stems from living in a town where they are outlawed (yes, there are several) or the chance to save a nickel here and a dime there, reducing plastic waste is a good thing for all of us. And the positive P.R. certainly doesn't hurt the retailers either.



Well, I have been using my own bags for a while now (when I can remember them, that is) I do it just because of my "tree-hugging" tendencies. I like using my own bags, and boxes. I am an admitted tightwad, and really like the cheap cloth bags that I can use over and over again, for things beyond groceries and quick runs to Wal-Mart. I use them for carrying books to the library and for laundry, and... well you get the idea. I do take a bit of offense that it seems to me that being "green" is the latest bandwagon. I honestly doubt that the people that run the great big companies such as Target really worry about the impact their store and the products it sells has on our world. But, if making themselves more "green" means more sales, then it is a win-win situation for everyone.
I am also very uncomfortable with the tag on the bag gimmick from CVS. The way the article read to me, was that these tags would be just one more way for CVS to keep track of when you come into their store. I also noticed that they want you to pay cash up front for the tag, but they will only give you a coupon to use on your next purchase. Call me cynical, but I wonder just how many people never use their coupon. Not only does the article have a "spin" towards trying to make me feel like these companies are trying to do right by the world, but the marketing of the companies are too. In the words of my thirteen year old daughter, "Whatever!".