Business & Tech
Stop & Shop to Discontinue Bring-Your-Own-Bag Incentives
Grocery retailer will no longer give customers 5 cents off their shopping bills for each bag they reuse.
Stop & Shop's rebate program that gives customers 5 cents back each time they reuse a shopping bag will end on Sunday, the supermarket chain announced in a letter to customers this week.
According to the letter, signed by Stop & Shop New York Metro Division President Don Sussman, the rebate program has kept millions of paper and plastic bags from the waste stream. "While we have been greatly encouraged by this, the program has reached a plateau in its effectiveness to encourage shoppers to reuse their bags," Sussman wrote.
Southampton Town government has also been encouraging residents to bring reusable shopping bags to the grocery store, after a proposal in 2011 to ban plastic shopping bags failed to gain enough support among Town Board members. Councilwoman Christine Scalera and Councilman Chris Nuzzi have led the education initiative, dubbed "A Green Southampton—The Solution Is in the Bag."
Scalera said she has reached out to Stop & Shop about the chain possibly making an exception at its Hampton Bays store. She said that the regional decision is having a local effect that does not necessarily reflect the success of Southampton Town's campaign, compared to other towns where effectiveness of a rebate plateaued.
Stop & Shop will continue to take part in the education campaign, Scalera said. It has included asking residents to take a pledge to shop with reusable bags and to recycle the plastic bags they do use, and offering prizes for schools that collect the most plastic bags to recycle.
Scalera said that despite Stop & Shop's move, she is not considering a town ban on plastic bags. She said that raising awareness has been an effective tool in reducing the number of bags used and will continue to be.
Southampton Village's ban on plastic bags took effect in November 2011, making the village the first municipality in New York State to institute such an ordinance.
Sussman said that in lieu of a rebate, Stop & Shop, will instead put support behind other programs to protect the community and reduce the supermarket's environmental impact. "We are excited to share that we will donate $10,000 to The Nature Conservancy on Long Island."
