 Aug. 14, 2008 - Tesco has cut its use of plastic bags by 40% without charging customers extra for them, the supermarket chain reports.
The retailer estimates that it has saved 2 billion plastic bags since launching its Green Clubcard Points program in August 2006. The customer rewards program offers regular shoppers free use of reusable carrier bags.
"The 'carrot' approach clearly works," says Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Tesco's corporate and legal affairs director. "Even the most committed greenies occasionally forget to bring their shopping bags with them....We want to help our customers remember to reuse their bags, rather than punish them when they forget."
The program is rapidly gaining support, according to Neville-Rolfe. "It took more than 14 months to save the first billion bags, but the second billion was achieved in less than nine months," she says.
Tesco has sent its 12 million Clubcard customers a new key fob, which carries a reminder to bring their bags with them. The retailer says it will also post signage in store parking lots encouraging shoppers to bring their own reusable bags.
Major retailers including IKEA and Marks & Spencer have reported huge drops in plastic bag consumption since adding a surcharge for their use. Others, such as Wal-Mart and Whole Foods, don't charge extra for plastic but do offer their own in-store brand of reusable carrier bags. |
