AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Whole Foods Market Inc., a leading natural foods retailer, has decided to forgo plastic grocery bags, eliminating one option in the checkout line.
Whole Food customers will be asked to use free recycled paper bags that Whole Foods stores will supply or bags made 80 percent from recycled plastic bottles, which will cost customers 99 cents. They also will sell canvas bags retailing for $6.99 to $35, USA Today reported Tuesday.
"We hope to see a domino effect," said Lisa Mastny, consumer project director at Worldwatch, an environmental research group.
That domino effect may already be taking hold. San Francisco has banned the light plastic bags as an environmental hazard and other municipalities are considering a ban, while New York and New Jersey are considering legislation that would require recycling plastic bags. China has already outlawed them, the report says.
Whole Foods estimates its moratorium, which it hopes to have in place at its 270 outlets by Earth Day on April 22, will save about 100 million plastic bags by the end of the year. Worldwatch estimates Americans use 100 billion plastic bags each year.
