Putting Ikea purchases in bags to cost 5 cents

Proceeds go to plant more trees.

By Joann Loviglio

Associated Press

Customers leave Ikea's 29 U.S. stores every day with Nordic-named housewares and assemble-it-yourself furniture, but the Swedish home-furnishings retailer wants to see shoppers walk out with one less thing: a plastic bag.
Ikea International A/S, which has its U.S. headquarters in Conshohocken, announced yesterday that it would start charging customers a nickel for every plastic bag they use to carry their booty of Glasklar dishes and Bibbi Snurr blankets. Proceeds from the surcharge will go to an environmental conservation group.
"We really feel the timing is right," said Pernille Lopez, president of Ikea North America. "It's a small step, but we feel it's good for us as a company, and it reduces our impact on the environment."
Ikea's U.S. stores went through 70 million plastic bags last year - and officials want to cut that in half over the first year of the "bring-your-own-bag" policy. That would equate to about 1.5 million trees being planted - an idea that got a favorable response from customers Ikea surveyed, Lopez said.
Proceeds from the surcharge will go to the nonprofit group American Forests to plant trees, with dual goals of restoring forests and reducing carbon dioxide emissions, she said. Ikea also will sell its reusable bags for 59 cents, down from the current 99 cents, for customers who forget to bring their own.
Other businesses, including the no-frills Aldi Inc. supermarket chain and warehouse clubs such as Costco Wholesale Corp., charge for disposable bags.
The National Retail Federation, an industry group, was not aware of any other large national retailer that has a plastic-bag fee. Some grocery chains provide incentives such as discounts and shopping-spree raffles to customers who bring their own bags, spokesman Scott Krugman said.
Several countries either use a surcharge or outright ban throwaway plastic bags, including Ireland, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, South Africa and Bangladesh.
In Ireland, their use plummeted 90 percent after a 20-cent-per-bag "plastax" started in 2002, raising millions of dollars for environmental programs.
Ikea's intent is to essentially eliminate the use of plastic bags. Ikea implemented the bag charge in June across Britain, and the company anticipates more than a 90 percent drop in disposable-bag use within the first year.
"The majority of people we talk to are quite supportive and really think it's a good idea," Lopez said.
Environmental groups say plastic bags waste valuable oil resources, release toxins when burned, and contribute to global warming because of the energy required to produce them. They also say bags littering the oceans annually kill sea turtles and other marine animals that mistake them for food.
Americans discarded more than 4.4 million tons of low- and high-density polyethylene bags, sacks and wraps in 2005, according to a report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Only 5.2 percent of those were recovered for recycling, the EPA said.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/16744081.htm

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A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes. - Hugh Downs

Its a start. Think about how much could be saved if all major corps like Walmart, Target etc. had similar programs. 70 million from Ikea, which I assume comapritively speaking, is much smaller than some of the afore mentioned chains. Remember, a substantial number of IKEA's sales relate to big ticket items that will not be bagged at all. And do not think that this is a way of reducing our dependency on oil. Latest info available indicates that just one percent of every barrel of oil is used in the mfg of plastics. Comapre that to 20% of every barrel which is used in the production of asphalt and other constuction materials. Both have ground water contamination issues but one is being addressed and the other is somewhat being overlooked. IMHO.

It is a small thing when compared to total US consumption, obviously, but in this case, even small things are worth doing. Other large retailers actually are doing similar things. Wal-mart is asking (or demanding of) its suppliers to reduce packaging in their products and is initiating a major push for compact fluorescent light bulbs. I wouldn't be surprised if Target announced some kind of environmental initiative soon to keep up.

Wal*Mart and other retailers in Germany charged for bags when I was there this past summer. I assumed it would be happening here as well.

Damn. Now what are we dog-owners supposed to use to pick up poop?

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Not against it but I don't go to Ikea knowing how many bags I'll need.


5 cents?

Good price...no one will really care.

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I spent time in England years ago, and they always charged customers who didn't bring their own tote bags. And here in Philly, Weavers Way Co-op in Mount Airy does not supply bags. Co-operators bring our own, or we use discarded cardboard boxes that merchandise is delivered in; the boxes are tossed over top of the frozen foods and refrigeration sections. We help ourselves to them. It's about time the idea caught on. Ikea is just importing an idea I thought was common in other parts of the world.

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"Your silence will not protect you"--Audre Lorde.

Look at it this way, they are turning upside down what places like Whole Foods do, offering 5 cent refunds if you DON'T take a new bag...

(Superfresh does this too, although they don't really publicize it and I think it's 3 cents, and you have to ask for it, and most people feel above asking for a 3 cent refund)

on a related note....


Plastic fantastic bottle recycling
Andrew Leonard

http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2007/02/22/plastic_ bottles/index.html

Goody.

Everybody can feel warm and cosy. And if you don't give a crap, it will be $0.05 towards an illegal alien planting a tree for ya.

Who knew helping the ecology would be so much fun?

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WHYY pays their CEO $750,000 a year. So WHYY should I renew my membership? Seems they have no problems finding money and spending it unwisely.


And this is why you should donate to PACCA, not PETA:

In September, PETA made headlines in Vermont and across the nation for asking Ben & Jerry's ice cream to use human breast milk in their ice cream, instead of cow milk