Kroger is phasing out plastic bags

[pixy0stix]

www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/2018/08/23/memphis-kroger-plastic-bag-ban-reusable-recycle-straws-environment-column/1071446002/

Phase through 2025, but I hope it ends sooner.

[WOT?*]

Interesting. Not only phasing out plastic bags but also phasing out food waste to become a zero-waste business. So, donating to food banks and composting, I assume, any inedible/rotted food. I shop regularly at Fred Meyer, a Kroger store. I'm glad to see them doing this. I'd like Haggen/Safeway/Albertson's accept the challenge and follow in their footsteps.

[Deleted]

I just want to know what they're going to do for ClickList (the curbside pickup option) - paper bags? I was hoping the article would explain that. We have long been converts to reusable bags. I try to use as few plastic bags as possible for all shopping, not just groceries. But with the move, we've been doing grocery pickup, and there are SO MANY plastic bags. We are at least saving them to use as can liners for small garbage cans, but we already probably have enough to do that for 6 months or more just from a few shopping trips. We're talking about using maybe 2 bags a month for wastebasket liners, and we easily get a dozen from one grocery pickup. It's the one thing that I dislike about the service, but we generally try to be environmentally conscious in so many other ways that I'm chalking this up to being temporary during a chaotic time.

[mrsd2006]

Aug 23, 2018 9:26:25 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

I just want to know what they're going to do for ClickList (the curbside pickup option) - paper bags? I was hoping the article would explain that. We have long been converts to reusable bags. I try to use as few plastic bags as possible for all shopping, not just groceries. But with the move, we've been doing grocery pickup, and there are SO MANY plastic bags. We are at least saving them to use as can liners for small garbage cans, but we already probably have enough to do that for 6 months or more just from a few shopping trips. We're talking about using maybe 2 bags a month for wastebasket liners, and we easily get a dozen from one grocery pickup. It's the one thing that I dislike about the service, but we generally try to be environmentally conscious in so many other ways that I'm chalking this up to being temporary during a chaotic time.

I've done Instacart with Publix, and they use paper bags. You can probably specify if you want paper somehow. 

You can also recycle the plastic bags, not sure about Kroger but Publix has bins out front to recycle paper and plastic bags (and egg cartons (styrofoam) if I remember correctly. 

[Deleted]

Aug 23, 2018 9:30:01 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

Aug 23, 2018 9:26:25 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

I just want to know what they're going to do for ClickList (the curbside pickup option) - paper bags? I was hoping the article would explain that. We have long been converts to reusable bags. I try to use as few plastic bags as possible for all shopping, not just groceries. But with the move, we've been doing grocery pickup, and there are SO MANY plastic bags. We are at least saving them to use as can liners for small garbage cans, but we already probably have enough to do that for 6 months or more just from a few shopping trips. We're talking about using maybe 2 bags a month for wastebasket liners, and we easily get a dozen from one grocery pickup. It's the one thing that I dislike about the service, but we generally try to be environmentally conscious in so many other ways that I'm chalking this up to being temporary during a chaotic time.

I've done Instacart with Publix, and they use paper bags. You can probably specify if you want paper somehow. 

You can also recycle the plastic bags, not sure about Kroger but Publix has bins out front to recycle paper and plastic bags (and egg cartons (styrofoam) if I remember correctly. 

Yeah, they have plastic bag recycling in the store. We just haven't gone inside the store since we started getting plastic bags, LOL. I have thrown out very few of them, saving them for either garbage bags or to be recycled. I haven't looked to see if there is a way to request paper bags. I should, though.

They should let you put down a deposit or something on reusable bags - they could bring your groceries out in reusable bags and let you return last week's.

[Deleted]

Aug 23, 2018 9:34:08 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Aug 23, 2018 9:30:01 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

I've done Instacart with Publix, and they use paper bags. You can probably specify if you want paper somehow. 

You can also recycle the plastic bags, not sure about Kroger but Publix has bins out front to recycle paper and plastic bags (and egg cartons (styrofoam) if I remember correctly. 

Yeah, they have plastic bag recycling in the store. We just haven't gone inside the store since we started getting plastic bags, LOL. I have thrown out very few of them, saving them for either garbage bags or to be recycled. I haven't looked to see if there is a way to request paper bags. I should, though.

They should let you put down a deposit or something on reusable bags - they could bring your groceries out in reusable bags and let you return last week's.

Lurker, but if you specify in the special instructions section for one item in each section of the store (produce, meat, dairy, frozen, etc) that you will bring your own bags they will come out and get your reusable bags and then bag your groceries in them and then bring them out. They will also take your plastic bags that you have for recycle into the store and recycle them for you if you ask them to.

[Pom]

Aug 23, 2018 9:34:08 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Aug 23, 2018 9:30:01 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

I've done Instacart with Publix, and they use paper bags. You can probably specify if you want paper somehow. 

You can also recycle the plastic bags, not sure about Kroger but Publix has bins out front to recycle paper and plastic bags (and egg cartons (styrofoam) if I remember correctly. 

Yeah, they have plastic bag recycling in the store. We just haven't gone inside the store since we started getting plastic bags, LOL. I have thrown out very few of them, saving them for either garbage bags or to be recycled. I haven't looked to see if there is a way to request paper bags. I should, though.

They should let you put down a deposit or something on reusable bags - they could bring your groceries out in reusable bags and let you return last week's.

I would absolutely go this route.

[picksthemusic]

Aug 23, 2018 9:14:34 GMT -5 WOT?* said:

Interesting. Not only phasing out plastic bags but also phasing out food waste to become a zero-waste business. So, donating to food banks and composting, I assume, any inedible/rotted food. I shop regularly at Fred Meyer, a Kroger store. I'm glad to see them doing this. I'd like Haggen/Safeway/Albertson's accept the challenge and follow in their footsteps.

I also love how Taco Time (a PNW institution) is basically all compostable, and almost zero waste. I do wish those other stores would follow suit.

[wambam]

I get shade from Kroger every time I come in with my reusable bags. They act like it’s a huge fucking burden to use them rather than plastic.

[NitaX]

Aug 23, 2018 9:26:25 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

I just want to know what they're going to do for ClickList (the curbside pickup option) - paper bags? I was hoping the article would explain that. We have long been converts to reusable bags. I try to use as few plastic bags as possible for all shopping, not just groceries. But with the move, we've been doing grocery pickup, and there are SO MANY plastic bags. We are at least saving them to use as can liners for small garbage cans, but we already probably have enough to do that for 6 months or more just from a few shopping trips. We're talking about using maybe 2 bags a month for wastebasket liners, and we easily get a dozen from one grocery pickup. It's the one thing that I dislike about the service, but we generally try to be environmentally conscious in so many other ways that I'm chalking this up to being temporary during a chaotic time.

This is the reason I don't do ClickList. My colleagues all think I'm crazy and crunchy, but I really can't stand getting a Gazillion plastic bags and having them float around the house. Rest my little Pug's soul (he passed away a month ago), but he'd always get his paw caught in a bag. Or my cat is forever chewing on them.

I don't need 85 plastic bags when 4 reusable totes do the same thing.

[Deleted]

Aug 23, 2018 9:40:31 GMT -5 @mrsgreeko said:

Aug 23, 2018 9:34:08 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Yeah, they have plastic bag recycling in the store. We just haven't gone inside the store since we started getting plastic bags, LOL. I have thrown out very few of them, saving them for either garbage bags or to be recycled. I haven't looked to see if there is a way to request paper bags. I should, though.

They should let you put down a deposit or something on reusable bags - they could bring your groceries out in reusable bags and let you return last week's.

Lurker, but if you specify in the special instructions section for one item in each section of the store (produce, meat, dairy, frozen, etc) that you will bring your own bags they will come out and get your reusable bags and then bag your groceries in them and then bring them out. They will also take your plastic bags that you have for recycle into the store and recycle them for you if you ask them to.

I thought there was a way to bring my own bags, but there wasn't a special instructions section for the whole order so I didn't think of this. Thanks!

[Deleted]

Aug 23, 2018 9:50:27 GMT -5 NitaX said:

Aug 23, 2018 9:26:25 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

I just want to know what they're going to do for ClickList (the curbside pickup option) - paper bags? I was hoping the article would explain that. We have long been converts to reusable bags. I try to use as few plastic bags as possible for all shopping, not just groceries. But with the move, we've been doing grocery pickup, and there are SO MANY plastic bags. We are at least saving them to use as can liners for small garbage cans, but we already probably have enough to do that for 6 months or more just from a few shopping trips. We're talking about using maybe 2 bags a month for wastebasket liners, and we easily get a dozen from one grocery pickup. It's the one thing that I dislike about the service, but we generally try to be environmentally conscious in so many other ways that I'm chalking this up to being temporary during a chaotic time.

This is the reason I don't do ClickList. My colleagues all think I'm crazy and crunchy, but I really can't stand getting a Gazillion plastic bags and having them float around the house. Rest my little Pug's soul (he passed away a month ago), but he'd always get his paw caught in a bag. Or my cat is forever chewing on them.

I don't need 85 plastic bags when 4 reusable totes do the same thing.

Between Click List and not knowing where I put my reusable bags (I just found them Tuesday in a box in the basement!), we have used more plastic bags in the last month than we have in YEARS. It's awful. Why do people WANT to use plastic bags for their groceries? I have nice reusable bags that hold more and fit over my shoulder. SO much easier to carry.

ETA: when we went to the Christmas of Doom with my family a few years ago, the nearest major store was Wal-Mart. We hadn't taken any bags with us on this trip, so we just got plastic bags. I swear they averaged 3 items per bag. We ended up with like 20 bags for $50 worth of groceries. It was obscene.

[mbcdefg]

The handles of plastic bags really hurt my fingers if there's more than a few items in the bag. 

[Deleted]

Aug 23, 2018 10:03:17 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

The handles of plastic bags really hurt my fingers if there's more than a few items in the bag. 

This is part of why they are terrible!

[clippy]

I do grocery pick up at Walmart and emailed them about using reusable vs plastic. They said that I can call a couple of hours before my pick up and tell them I'll be bringing my own bags and they will then bag everything during pick up.

[CurlyQ284]

Aug 23, 2018 9:40:31 GMT -5 @mrsgreeko said:

Aug 23, 2018 9:34:08 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Yeah, they have plastic bag recycling in the store. We just haven't gone inside the store since we started getting plastic bags, LOL. I have thrown out very few of them, saving them for either garbage bags or to be recycled. I haven't looked to see if there is a way to request paper bags. I should, though.

They should let you put down a deposit or something on reusable bags - they could bring your groceries out in reusable bags and let you return last week's.

Lurker, but if you specify in the special instructions section for one item in each section of the store (produce, meat, dairy, frozen, etc) that you will bring your own bags they will come out and get your reusable bags and then bag your groceries in them and then bring them out. They will also take your plastic bags that you have for recycle into the store and recycle them for you if you ask them to.

One time they forgot to put any of the items in bags, the guy opened the little crate and was surprised to see all the groceries were just in there. I had my reusable bags in the trunk and we just bagged them right there. I feel like that would be faster!

[redheadbaker]

Aug 23, 2018 9:34:08 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Aug 23, 2018 9:30:01 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

I've done Instacart with Publix, and they use paper bags. You can probably specify if you want paper somehow. 

You can also recycle the plastic bags, not sure about Kroger but Publix has bins out front to recycle paper and plastic bags (and egg cartons (styrofoam) if I remember correctly. 

Yeah, they have plastic bag recycling in the store. We just haven't gone inside the store since we started getting plastic bags, LOL. I have thrown out very few of them, saving them for either garbage bags or to be recycled. I haven't looked to see if there is a way to request paper bags. I should, though.

They should let you put down a deposit or something on reusable bags - they could bring your groceries out in reusable bags and let you return last week's.

I don't know about your area, but animal shelters near me request donations of plastic bags for staff and volunteers to use to pick up after the dogs.

[mrsd2006]

Aug 23, 2018 9:45:20 GMT -5 wambam said:

I get shade from Kroger every time I come in with my reusable bags. They act like it’s a huge fucking burden to use them rather than plastic.

Which is why I shop at Publix   Unfortunately, not everyone has one though. 

[dutchgirl678]

Aug 23, 2018 9:45:20 GMT -5 wambam said:

I get shade from Kroger every time I come in with my reusable bags. They act like it’s a huge fucking burden to use them rather than plastic.

I have that same problem at Walmart. And they always want to double-bag everything and put only a few items in each bag. I always try to bring my own bags. Here in the PNW, I like that when I go to New Season's they will donate a small amt to charity when you bring in your own bag. But I don't go there very often because they are pretty expensive.

[DotAndBuzz]

Aug 23, 2018 9:26:25 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

I just want to know what they're going to do for ClickList (the curbside pickup option) - paper bags? I was hoping the article would explain that. We have long been converts to reusable bags. I try to use as few plastic bags as possible for all shopping, not just groceries. But with the move, we've been doing grocery pickup, and there are SO MANY plastic bags. We are at least saving them to use as can liners for small garbage cans, but we already probably have enough to do that for 6 months or more just from a few shopping trips. We're talking about using maybe 2 bags a month for wastebasket liners, and we easily get a dozen from one grocery pickup. It's the one thing that I dislike about the service, but we generally try to be environmentally conscious in so many other ways that I'm chalking this up to being temporary during a chaotic time.

My Meijer uses only paper bags for their curbside pick-up. I feel like Harris Teeter (now owned by Kroger) did too when I used them years ago.

The people who shop/pack those bags at my Meijer are like Tetris grocery masters - everything is packed exactly right to use as few bags as possible, and use every cubic inch of bag space available. It makes everything fit in the car so much better, and fewer bags.

[pugz]

I could rant about the baggers (courtesy clerks) all day but it makes me sounds like an old lady.

We shop at the same chain store I had my first job at (HyVee for those in the midwest). In our training we were told 7 items per bag, no more, no less. Don't bag meat with produce, don't bag cleaning products with food, bag cold things together, etc.

But now when I shop there they put 2-3 items per bag, don't bag cold stuff together, and especially if I order online and do the store pickup I get a shit ton of plastic bags. SO ANNOYING! TRAIN YOUR 15 YEAR OLD EMPLOYEES LIKE I WAS TRAINED AT 15! ::shakes cane::

[pagas]

Aug 23, 2018 9:45:20 GMT -5 wambam said:

I get shade from Kroger every time I come in with my reusable bags. They act like it’s a huge fucking burden to use them rather than plastic.

I just bag it myself.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Our local (in CA) grocery store does both curbside and delivery, and they use paper bags and charge for them. We do not have the option of using reusables. I doubt they have enough space to store them - half the time the ecart orders are literally overflowing into the exit aisle because there's not enough room in the ecart area for the number of orders they get.

[gerberdaisy]

I'm just here to say that I wish wegmans would do curbside pick up (with reusable bags of course), and get rid of plastic bags all together.

[isabel]

Aug 23, 2018 9:40:31 GMT -5 @mrsgreeko said:

Aug 23, 2018 9:34:08 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Yeah, they have plastic bag recycling in the store. We just haven't gone inside the store since we started getting plastic bags, LOL. I have thrown out very few of them, saving them for either garbage bags or to be recycled. I haven't looked to see if there is a way to request paper bags. I should, though.

They should let you put down a deposit or something on reusable bags - they could bring your groceries out in reusable bags and let you return last week's.

Lurker, but if you specify in the special instructions section for one item in each section of the store (produce, meat, dairy, frozen, etc) that you will bring your own bags they will come out and get your reusable bags and then bag your groceries in them and then bring them out. They will also take your plastic bags that you have for recycle into the store and recycle them for you if you ask them to.

Ditto this. This is what I do every time and it’s generally been pretty successful. I ask them to bring the cart out and will help them bag up my stuff. The amount of plastic bags they use is insanity.

I really love that Kroger is doing this. Makes me feel better about shopping there.

[StrawberryBlondie]

Aug 23, 2018 12:13:09 GMT -5 pugz said:

I could rant about the baggers (courtesy clerks) all day but it makes me sounds like an old lady.

We shop at the same chain store I had my first job at (HyVee for those in the midwest). In our training we were told 7 items per bag, no more, no less. Don't bag meat with produce, don't bag cleaning products with food, bag cold things together, etc.

But now when I shop there they put 2-3 items per bag, don't bag cold stuff together, and especially if I order online and do the store pickup I get a shit ton of plastic bags. SO ANNOYING! TRAIN YOUR 15 YEAR OLD EMPLOYEES LIKE I WAS TRAINED AT 15! ::shakes cane::

Somewhat OT but hilarious. I was at the grocery store maybe a year ago and the checkout guy asked me what a particular piece of produce was.

It was a potato.

[nessness]

Good for them. I never much liked King Soopers (a Kroger-owned chain) when I lived in Denver, but if I still lived there I might go back to shopping there. I don't think we have Kroger where I live now.

I heard on the radio that they currently use 9 billion bags per year, so this should make a pretty significant dent in the US's plastic bag use, and hopefully inspire other chains to follow suit.

[pugz]

StrawberryBlondie omg noooooo.

"back in my day" we had to take a produce identification test as part of training. The hard ones were things like kale, chard, and the other leafy greens.

[StrawberryBlondie]

Aug 23, 2018 13:19:46 GMT -5 pugz said:

StrawberryBlondie omg noooooo.

"back in my day" we had to take a produce identification test as part of training. The hard ones were things like kale, chard, and the other leafy greens.

I know! There are lots of produce I could've forgiven such a question. Even theoretically like a fingerling potato. But a russet potato?

[meshaliuknits]

Our Lucky does delivery in reusable bags. You return them with your next order, I'm told. But in this area you charge for paper and can't have plastic bags.