Bounty, Survival, Real Value, Mattai, DSL, Budget and Massy Stores’ on Sunday rewarded the first twenty shoppers to their outlets, with prizes for bringing renewable bags to the supermarkets. The move by the five supermarkets to encourage their customers to forgo plastic bags was in observance of Earth Day.
The ‘no plastic bag day’ initiative is the brainchild of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Senior Environment Officer Candace Thompson explained the day’s activity to the Department of Public Information (DPI).
“We have engaged the major supermarkets around Georgetown to have some on board to help end plastic pollution and as a stepping stone we’ve taken the initiative to have the stores use biodegradable bags,” Thompson said.
The Environment Officer noted that Massy supermarket has pledged an excess of 6000 biodegradable bags that will also allow customers who shop at the Massy stores with their bags, in the future, to receive free accumulative points.
A Massy Supermarket customer spoke of the positive impact this project will have on the environment.
“I think it’s a good initiative because you see plastic bags everywhere on the road and you know that it’s not good but you don’t have another option…You know that there’s another way but you don’t have a way of doing it and since Massy is giving out these bags that’s a pretty good start,” she said.
Lelita Lachman, the Assistant Manager for Bounty Supermarket’s branch at Bourda, told DPI that she is elated about the customers’ response to the project.
“I think it’s a great initiative with the EPA coming on board with supermarkets supporting the go green or the recycling of plastic bags and shopping bags. A lot of our customers responded positively this morning they were all excited,” Lachman said.
One Budget Supermarket customer participating in the initiative said: “I normally end up with too many of them stored after a while so I tend to just throw them away.”
The theme for Earth Day 2018 “End Plastic Pollution” promotes the use of biodegradable and reusable bags instead of the usual plastic bags which when discarded improperly, clog drains, kills wildlife and negatively impacts human health. Because of the non-biodegradable nature of regular plastic bags, they take decades to decompose and pose a serious threat to the environment.
First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22, worldwide. Various events are usually held to demonstrate support for environmental protection.
