Introduction:
At Dwaneson, we sell health products to our customers, but as a health product company, we need to provide an environmental option for our customers to bring their health products home. Since the Industrial Revolution, we have been effecting the environment around us, often in negative ways. Cars and factories pollute our air, and as materials like plastic and aluminum have emerged, litter has entered the discussion around pollution. According to Chelsea Rochman, in an article she published alongside a handful of her fellow colleagues, “280 million tons of plastic was produced globally [in 2012]. Less than half of it was consigned to landfill or recycled” (Rochman, Browne, & Halpern, 2013). We need to take a stand and tackle the issue of plastic bags in the shopping experience before it is too late.
While other countries, Ireland and South Africa to name two, have already taken steps towards combatting pollution by tackling a component of litter, the plastic bag, stores need to do the same. Plastic bags are a common component of the shopping experience; they serve the simple purpose of carrying what you bought from the store to wherever you want to bring them to. Plastic bags can be reused to fit various needs, such as serving as a small trash bag or being used to carry items from one place to another, like its original purpose, and while it is good that these plastic bags can be reused and recycled, we ought to look at what happens to the many bags that don’t get recycled or reused and end up in the wild as litter.
Problem:
In an article for Environmental Politics, Jennifer Clapp states that the United States uses around 100 million plastic bags annually, and from that number, she estimates that only 5 million plastic bags are recycled (Clapp & Swanston, 2009). That leaves around 95 million plastic bags that are not recycled, and this is annually. If these numbers were stretched out
from 2000 to 2018, Americans would have consumed 1.9 billion plastic bags, 95 million of those bags were recycled, and a staggering 1.8 billion would be simply tossed out (Clapp & Swanston, 2009).
This is a huge problem. Clapp also states that these bags “can take up to 1000 years to break down,” adding that when they do break down, they break down into smaller pieces, making it easy for plastic to make its way into various ecosystems, posing as a threat that cannot be fully measured yet (Clapp & Swanston, 2009). We can already see what effect plastic bags can have today, as they pose as a choking hazards for toddlers and many animals. As we try to become more green by looking at how we generate power, run our cars, and even how much energy we consume, we need to look at what we can do about plastic bags.
Solution:
Various other stores around the country have different options at checkout for their customers. Sam’s Club, as a company, will put purchased items in empty product boxes, which works well since Sam’s Club selling many of their products in bulk. Grocery stores, including Hornbachers and Cub Foods, offers both paper and plastic bags at checkout. This allows their customers to put heavier items in paper bags, with lighter items being put in plastic bags. Grocery stores also offer discounts similar to Target, which offers a “5-cent discount for each reusable bag [customers] use” (Target Brands, 2018). Along with the discount, Target also offers their own Target-branded reusable bags. With a few options to look at, it is important for us to find the best option to use for our business.
While Sam’s Club’s option of using empty product boxes works out well for them, it would not be a good option for us. Since we do not sell items in bulk, we would have a hard time keeping a steady supply of these empty product boxes. While it may be possible to implement paper bags to cut down on plastic bag usage, implementing reusable bags combined with a small discount for those who use reusable bags would be better for our business. With other businesses making a push for reusable bags, adding incentives to use reusable bags at our stores would help normalize consumers switching to primarily using reusable bags for shopping. Like Target, we could also sell special Dwaneson branded reusable bags. Reusable bags would be a welcome addition at checkout.
Method:
Looking to our own branded reusable bags, we could offer a handful of bags to choose from. We would sell a bag that simply has our logo on its sides, as well as a few other bags that has our logo on the sides. The reusable bag would sell for $4. We could use hemp as our
material of choice for these bags. As stated by the Canadian Plastics Industry Association, hemp bags would be strong and reliable (Canadian Plastics Industry Association, 2012). In using hemp, we would be supplying our customers with durable bags that could be used for a good deal of time.
In introducing these reusable bags, we will be aiming to reduce the consumption of plastic bags at our stores. As plastic bags are still a core component of many shopping experiences, we will still offer plastic bags. With us still offering plastic bags, we would not be scaring people by the drastic change. Reusable bags are becoming more common in the shopping experience but are not yet at a point where they are overtaking the position plastic bags has at checkout.
We would introduce the reusable bags into our stores on March 1st, 2019, with a 5-cents off per bag discount starting the same day. We would run a promotion campaign from January 1st up to March 1st, informing our customers of this new discount they could get by using reusable bags at checkout and giving people ample time to anticipate our bag discount. Our main demographic are people who enjoy being healthy and are conscious of the environment and the toll it has taken, so implementing a discount for using reusable bags to cut down on plastic bags that are used should go over well with our main consumer base.
Conclusion:
Implementing reusable bags will be a good way to better our image. Since we sell health products, it makes sense that we would try to be as healthy and environmentally friendly as possible. With more stores introducing benefits for shopping with reusable bags, having our own branded bags would not only generate money but would also get our name out to people who may have never heard of Dwaneson. Allowing our customers to shop in an environmentally friendly way would go over well with our main consumer base, as they are already people who enjoy living in a healthy and environmentally friendly manner. In doing all this, we would be taking a stand for our planet and take a step forward towards a healthier tomorrow.