So you’ve probably heard the news: Starting on Friday, disposable plastic bags cost an extra 5 cents in D.C. grocery stores. These bags are clogging up the Anacostia River! They must be stopped. Anyway, the fee was passed into law this past July. Nothing you can do about it now—-except pick up free reusable bags across the city.*
- Giant is giving away free bags from Jan. 1-7. Cashiers “will pack every customer’s order with reusables bags in all D.C. stores,” according to company spokesperson Jamie Miller. The chain expects to give away 250,000 bags. I asked Miller if Giant anticipates its customers doing some extra bulk shopping during the freebee period. He said he didn’t know.
- Also at the Giant, but just on Jan. 1, the unlikely partnership of the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital (GSCNC) and Boeing will be giving away bags from 4 to 6 p.m.
- Harris Teeter, which has two D.C. locations, will be giving away a bag to each customer in the month of January—-you just have to spend $20 and use your VIC promotional card. (The giveaway is per transaction.)
- The District Department of the Environment (DDOE) and CVS have partnered in a bag giveaway program. They’ve already given away some 32,000 bags. DDOE spokesperson Alan Heymann says another order has been placed for some 40,000 bags, which will arrive sometime next month. His department will be working with other District agencies and nonprofits to distribute those bags.
- Also Safeway! Word on the street is they’ll be giving away 10,000 bags—-though I’m still waiting for a callback on this one.
*Check out this link for tons of information from the DDOE on the plastic bag fee.