IKEA Bans Plastic Bags for Good
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 04. 2.08
Almost two years ago, IKEA announced it was going to start charging for plastic bags in the UK; then we heard that IKEA US was following suit by charging five cents per plastic bag. Soon after, that news was followed by a plastic bag ban in their UK stores, so perhaps the latest from the Swedish flat-packers shouldn't be too surprising: in an effort to promote the use of reusable bags, IKEA will no longer offer plastic bags starting in October.
Judging by the numbers, this won't be a huge stretch for IKEA customers: last March, IKEA set a goal of reducing its US stores' plastic bag consumption by 50%; after crunching some numbers, a whopping 92% of IKEA customers went for the reusable bag over the pay-for-plastic option. That's a lot of big blue bags, and even more plastic bags kept out of landfills.
According to their press release, "Since the 'bag the plastic bag' program began in March 2007, IKEA has donated more than $300,000 from their disposable plastic bag sales to American Forests. And since 1998, IKEA has contributed over $728,000 for the planting of trees in the US; this is enough trees to offset approximately 100,000 tons of CO2 emissions over the next 40 years."
Pencil it in: starting in October, don't forget your bags! Learn about IKEA's environmental and social initiatives at ::IKEA Responsibility via ::CSRwire
See also: ::IKEA Give Out 60000 Free CFLs, ::Plant a Tree, Cool the Globe with IKEA and ::IKEA's Environmental and Social Reports
What are those big blue bags made out of? As I recall, it's some form of manmade material or plastic. Now IKEA needs to take the anti-plastic-bag program a step further and make a durable reusable bag out of natural fiber that will someday biodegrade. I'm sure there is at least one Big Blue Bag floating out there in the Pacific Garbage Vortex.
Well we all know it was bound to happen. If you really want to go green, you should take out the trash. In this case, plastic bags have really been a nuisance. It takes a leader like Ikea to set the trend and hopefully others will follow.
Back in 2001 IIRC they didn't give you any plastic bags at all, not even the 're-usable' paid for blue bags. They used to supply paper bags.
Surely that was more environmentally friendly?
I think it's awesome. The average Ikea customer is probably more in-tune with environmental issues, and will receive this well. I hope more merchants pick up on the trend. My favorite grocery stores (Henry's, Trader Joes, and Whole Foods) even give customers an incentive to use reusable bags (Whole Foods rebates you $.05 per bag, Henry's rebates you a flat $.05 per checkout and TJ's enters you into a monthly drawing).
It's true that the blue bags at Ikea are manmade, however, they are very durable, recyclable and can be used for YEARS. Canvas or some other natural material would be nice but I think, given the size of some of the merchandise at Ikea, it wold be prohibitive.
That blue bag looks like it is somewhat made out of a type of plastic material. Now, take out the trash the proper way.
I find the ikea blue bags useful for other things, in particular, transporting laundry up and down the stairs. They are very durable.
I think the point is that those bags are reuseable whereas typical plastic bags break easily.
I don't see the big deal anyway. most of the stuff you buy at ikea is too big to fit into a bag. I rarely need a bag when shopping there.
i'm living in kenya right now and all the big supermarkets are promoting "environmentally friendly bags". they are these big blue clothlike plastic bags that are incredibly inconvenient to carry and i don't see many people using them. there is no (dis)incentive in place. the government was supposed to ban regular plastic bags but it's been completely ineffective.
two more things that make no sense:
1) the regular plastic bags infuriatingly have a "biodegradable" label on them. the supermarkets are getting away with this scam...
2) traditionally people use these very strong sisal baskets which you can buy for about $1 at any local market. i use them to haul my veggies and they are very practical. and of course biodegradable. it's a shame that nobody is encouraging continued use of these baskets.
I love those blue bags. there more or less made from tarps and they are great for traveling and camping. they break down to a tiny size and can hold a lot when you need to, but on a green level they are the reduce/ reuse side of stuff not the biodegradable end.
My feeling is that the blue (and yellow) IKEA bag is used for years in Sweden as mainly a laundry bag with a subsequent good score on the green list.
From about 50 years ago I remember people using nylon net bags, very strong, compressible, highly expandable and material efficient. Where did they go?