Reusable bags, whether they're fabric or plastic, are largely considered to be more environmentally friendly and sustainable than single-use paper and plastic. However, recent conversations have been emerging about the possibility that they are not the sustainability fix they were originally touted to be. Some need to be used 50 to 150 times to be considered better for the planet and with many of us amassing more than we could or care to use, a new problem is emerging: what do we do with all of these unused reusable bags?
One Vancouver grocery store believes they may have the solution.
"We wanted to change the way customers shop for their groceries at the checkout process," says Ashley Sugar, Market Manager of Be Fresh in Kitsilano which has a sister store, Organic Acres, on Main Street. "We wanted to make it more of a fun positive experience."
Sugar says that they heard the same story over and over again of negative customer experiences where people were forgetting their reusable bags and being forced to purchase the paper bags they offer in-store.
"So we thought well, why don't we make it a positive experience and launch a reusable bag library? So when they do forget it, which is 95 per cent of the time, we'll be able to give them a free reusable bag that's clean and laundered, guilt-free that they can return whenever it's convenient to them. And it immediately turned the whole negative part of forgetting their bag into something positive," explains Sugar.
Be Fresh first launched their reusable bag initiative in January 2020 and it was very successful until they had to put it on pause during the pandemic. The business is looking to start it back up again but they need bag donations, 500 to be exact.
Once again, they've put out a call for unwanted reusable bags. The bags will be professionally cleaned and sanitized to make them food safe before they are redistributed as part of the reusable bag library. The bags are stored under the cashier desk with the paper bags so that when customers come in without a bag and it comes time to check out cashiers can give them the option of paying for a paper bag or walking away with a free reusable bag instead.
They need 500 bags to start the process up again to make it cost-effective for laundering and to give both locations enough stock to start with. Plus if the initiative is successful enough it's likely that parent company Spud will also take part in the reusable bag library. The goal is to collect enough bags to re-launch the library by September 21.
"The response from customers is so emotional," says Sugar. "They're just so excited to hear about our initiative, to be able to take a bag and then be able to bring in their older bag that they don't use anymore. It's just such a nice initiative to do with the community that we just weren't prepared for how many people were really into it."
People can drop off their unwanted reusable bags to Organic Acres at 3603 Main St or Be Fresh at 1900 W 1st Ave in Vancouver.
