Monday, October 19, 2009

More action on plastic bags

This time from Target and CVS.

Yes, incentives matter.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

As shown by the test results that Target saw, these types of programs can truly be successful. I'm interested to see what happens as a result of CVS' program because I think that it could be very effective. As a consumer, I would most definitely participate. Many people shop frequently enough that the 1 dollar cash bonuses on their CVS card per 4 purchases without a plastic bag is great incentive. Time and time again we're shown that incentives are truly effective at changing peoples behavior. - Ryan D

Kyle Borgemiester said...

I hope to see more incentives to reduce plastic bag usage. I have reusable bags and plan to put them in the car with a hope that they will be brought in the store. With a 58% cut in Target stores, this provides a great participation outcome. If we could only get Wal-Mart to match or possibly doulbe the Target rate though; the outcomes would be astronomical in comparison. I hope more local companies will provide incentives like these. I also hope to use reuseable bags for more than just my Target and CVS purchases too.

Anonymous said...

If the stores want to go completely stop giving out bags but give you an option to buy reusable bags. In Europe they stopped giving out bags years ago to cut down the waste in the landfills.

Jerry Brown

Anonymous said...

It's convinience versus incentive. So far the convinience of plastic bags has outwieghed the incentive to reduce pollution. This seems like a viable (and already successful to some stores) way to get people to pay more attention to their actions. It does seem to me that the way to totally deal with the issue would be to just stop giving out bags and make people get their own.

Hunter Hay

Anonymous said...

I am encouraged by this article, especially considering the great results seen in the Target pilot test. Incentives like these are sure to give participating retailers competitive advantage. Although I feel like this is a great step, I wonder if this program will ever reach the ultimate goal of a 100% reduction in plastic bag usage. For many people, the convenience of using plastic bags is worth far more than the $.05 discounts given for using reusable bags at Target. This seems drastic, but the only way to even come close to eliminating all plastic bag use is to ban them outright, or charge customers to use them. The cost would have to be much greater than the current discount programs. This has been successful in Europe, where many stores do not provide bags at all.
-Andrew S.