 Dylan Smith puts groceries into a reusable bag on Sunday. Starting on Earth Day, Earthfare no longer uses plastic bags. Photo by Andrew Torrey | The Appalachian The Boone location was one of 17 Earth Fare stores to participate in the “Cut the Bag Habit” event, a celebration in commemoration of dropping plastic bags and Earth Day 2010.
In addition to providing free massages, face painting, belly dancing and jugglers, Earth Fare handed out free reusable tote bags.
The 17 stores handed out more than 5,000 tote bags.
“Even though our plastic bags were biodegradable, it was taking so long to actually degrade that it wasn’t as efficient as re-using a paper bag, or better yet, a reusable bag,” Tara Stollenmaier, Earth Fare community relations coordinator, said. “There’s are other parts of the country who’ve banned plastic bags, but we’re the first chain supermarket to do this.”
Earth Fare will continue to use paper bags and boxes at its checkout lines.
The store will also continue to sell its reusable tote bags that range from 99 cents to $3.99. Earth Fare makes a 5-cent donation to their current “Friend of Earth Fare” charity each time a customer uses a reusable tote bag.
The “Friend of Earth Fare” changes throughout the year, and the Two Rivers Community School is Earth Fare’s current charity recipient.
Since its inception, Earth Fare has donated more than $1 million to local non-profit organizations.
The plastic bags Earth Fare previously used were donated to the Hunger and Health Coalition, Stollenmaier said.
“Earth Fare is big on taking stands, and we’ve banned other products from our store,” Stollenmaier said. “This is just one more step that Earth Fare took naturally.”
Story: NASH DUNN, News Reporter
Photo: ANDREW TORREY |
