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Victorville Albertsons Promotes Reusable Bag Use with "Pay It Forward" Program

Have you ever stood in line at a grocery store, reusable bag in hand, and wondered why everyone was choosing plastic?  At those moments you probably wished you could hand out reusable bags and explain how plastics are polluting our environment.

 

You aren’t alone: Albertsons in Victorville feels your pain. In response, Albertsons holds occasional Pay it Forward Days that allows a customer to purchase a bag that is then given to the customer who shops after them.alt

 

Sounds pretty cool right? Well, we sure think so, and we decided to chat with Colleen Webster, the General Manager of Albertsons in Victorville, and one of the partners for our Reusable Bag Campaign. Her store will be holding a Pay It Forward Day on Saturday April 2 to correspond with a Zero Waste Reusable Bag Campaign tabling at the store.  Also, starting the week of April 4, Albertsons and Zero Waste will be starting a month-long promotion that will allow residents using reusable bags to enter a drawing to win a $50 Albertsons gift card. Be sure to visit us!

 

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Zero Waste Communities: Hi Colleen! Could you tell us a little about Pay it Forward?

 

Colleen Webster: Certainly, the Pay It Forward program is a simple way to promote reusable bag use here in Victorville. It’s a great way to show our neighborliness as well as help the environment. Last time we held a Pay It Forward Day over 400 bags were sold!

 

Zero Waste Communities: Wow, that’s great! Have you seen a lot of those bags in circulation at your store after that day?

 

Colleen Webster: We sure have, We see lots of those reusable bags come back through our lines. There has been a big increase in reusable bag use in the last couple of years and we are happy to support that.

 

Zero Waste Communities: Did you develop the Pay iIt Forward program?

 

Colleen Webster: I wish I did! No, it’s actually an Albertsons corporate idea that we’ve been pretty successful with.

 

Zero Waste Communities: What are some of the impacts of the program?

 

Colleen Webster: Well, there are two things that come to mind. First, the less plastic bags we give out, the more money we save. But most importantly, it’s good for the environment. Plastic bags end up in our landfill. They also blow in the wind and get stuck in trees and shrubs. I have never once seen a reusable bag in a tree.

 

The program also gets people thinking about these issues and that’s a good thing.

 
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