Bring your own plastic bags to CVS & Target soon and save money!

[Orchidflower]

1. CVS will be selling sometime in November a card to go with your CVS discount card (the red card that's free). It will cost 99 cents for the forever card, but you will get $1 back for every 4 visits to CVS where you bring your own plastic bag. Sounds like a great deal if you shop there often like I do. Just think: It's a quarter back on every visit!

2. Target will be giving you a 5 cent discount on your purchase IF you bring your own plastic bag starting November 1, 2009. Just think: 20 visits and you have a whole $1 in your pocket (hey, it's free at least).

This was in the Wall Street Journal today 10/19/09, and I saw nobody posted it yet. Think of it this way: Now Grandma can get that operation she's always needed...

Hint: Aldi sells some really big, strong plastic bags which last forever for 10 cents each. They're worth it, too.

 

[Gotadimple]

A lot of grocery stores in the Seattle area already do this. If you bring your own bag, it's a nickle rebate per bag. Most here buy the recycled cloth/plastic bags from the store for under a $.

As you say, 5 visits and you've (or rather they've) paid for the bag.

I like it, I hate those plastic bags, they seem to multiply overnight.

-- Rita

 

[mews]

I use the plastic bags for kitty-litter disposal in our building.

I would hate to have to start buying them!

ta,
mew

 

[Notmuchlonger]

In my area you pay a lot more for CVS things vs Walmart. Rather just hit Walmart. Heck CVS in my area can barely compete with the local grocery store. They got cheap milk at least. Besides I prefer the paper bags from Raleys. We use them for our kitchen garbage.

 

[traineeinvestor]

Earlier this year, the Hong Kong government introduced a HK$0.50 (about US$0.065) tax per plastic bag in supermarkets and certain other shops. Prior to the levy being introduced, Hong Kong was using 30 million plastic bags a day (about four per person) and those bags accounted for about 6% of total household waste.

I'm not sure how much of a dent in the waste figures the levy has made, but it will be measurable - most people now take their own bags to supermarkets.

It only took about 11 years to get this through the legislature.

 

[kumquat]

OK, I'm a non-USAian. What/who is CVS.

Here in the frozen north, a lot of places are now "going green" and charing $.05 per bag. I'm glad that their dedication to environmental causes raises the corporate bottom line and hopefully will soon give me a dividend increase rather than bonus's to the jerk who came up with this idea.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Earlier this year, the Hong Kong government introduced a HK$0.50 (about US$0.065) tax per plastic bag in supermarkets and certain other shops. Prior to the levy being introduced, Hong Kong was using 30 million plastic bags a day (about four per person) and those bags accounted for about 6% of total household waste.

I'm not sure how much of a dent in the waste figures the levy has made, but it will be measurable - most people now take their own bags to supermarkets.

It only took about 11 years to get this through the legislature.

I cant imagine using 4 bags per day. I go shopping once a week and use 4 at the most for 2 people. Do they stick 2 items per bag or something?

 

[CuppaJoe]

OK, I'm a non-USAian. What/who is CVS.
....

Kumquat, a CVS recently moved into my 'hood. They mailed out $10 coupons (if you spend more than $20), two per mailing so, heck, I went over and checked it out. After ignoring the pickets (CVS is non-union) I discovered it is similar to Walgreen's, that is, a drug store with hair products, milk as NML said, convenience items, etc. I used three $10 coupons there on three different days and never returned. I'm back loyal to Walgreen's. CVS is off-the-beaten track so probably won't do well there.

 

[Finance Dave]

OK, I'm a non-USAian. What/who is CVS.

Here in the frozen north, a lot of places are now "going green" and charing $.05 per bag. I'm glad that their dedication to environmental causes raises the corporate bottom line and hopefully will soon give me a dividend increase rather than bonus's to the jerk who came up with this idea.

Although I don't know what the initials stand for, CVS is a pharmacy chain much like Walgreens.

 

[RonBoyd]

OK, I'm a non-USAian. What/who is CVS.

CVS is identical to Walgreens (except there is not "one on every corner.")

Online Pharmacy for Prescription Drugs - CVS Pharmacy Drug Store

They were previously/purchased/merged with Caremark, a fairly large mail-order pharmacy.

 

[traineeinvestor]

I cant imagine using 4 bags per day. I go shopping once a week and use 4 at the most for 2 people. Do they stick 2 items per bag or something?

Not really. People tend to shop for food daily and tend to buy fresh food (chicken, fish, fruit) in markets rather than the supermarkets. You also tend to get takeaway foods and most other shopping handed to you in plastic bags. It all adds up.

 

[travelover]

I'd love to see less use of plastic bags, but not enough to get me into a CVS. We got a "free" $25 gift card for placing a prescription there and still can't bear to pay their prices, so the gift card sits. Irrational, I know.

 

[RonBoyd]

Ah, yes. The ol' Paper vs Plastic debate.

Let me google that for you

 

[Delawaredave5]

We use the store plastic bags as trash bags in kitchen and car - so they get "recycled".

People that use cloth store bags - do you use trash bags in kitchen ?

 

[Orchidflower]

CuppaJoe: I had to look at your personal bio, because I was wondering where you were that was still unionized? Illinois at the Iowa border used to unionize their grocery stores 40 years ago, but they cut that out for some reason. Guess northern California still does. Interesting.

 

[Martha]

1. CVS will be selling sometime in November a card to go with your CVS discount card (the red card that's free). It will cost 99 cents for the forever card, but you will get $1 back for every 4 visits to CVS where you bring your own plastic bag. Sounds like a great deal if you shop there often like I do. Just think: It's a quarter back on every visit!

2. Target will be giving you a 5 cent discount on your purchase IF you bring your own plastic bag starting November 1, 2009. Just think: 20 visits and you have a whole $1 in your pocket (hey, it's free at least).

This was in the Wall Street Journal today 10/19/09, and I saw nobody posted it yet. Think of it this way: Now Grandma can get that operation she's always needed...

Hint: Aldi sells some really big, strong plastic bags which last forever for 10 cents each. They're worth it, too.

I have quite a collection of cloth and weird plastic fiber and other bags that seem to come from various events. My favorite two are my Friends of the Library bags. Sturdy, cotton and politically correct. I try to keep some in the car to use when shopping but I haven't developed a strong habit yet.

Thanks for the info, I will try to remember to bring my bags into target.

We use the store plastic bags as trash bags in kitchen and car - so they get "recycled".

People that use cloth store bags - do you use trash bags in kitchen ?

We use store plastic as trash bags in the kitchen. I have accumulated several years worth to work through.

 

[FUEGO]

We use all of our plastic bags in some fashion. Trash bags, lunch bags, hauling stuff around, packing materials, storage, gift wrap. Now that last use is us just being cheap lazy bastids. Oh yeah, and any excess bags we give to MIL who reuses them for the produce she sells out of her house. It saves her from buying plastic bags.

I don't know what our daily plastic bag consumption is, but 4 per person seems a little high. We probably get 20 or so from a typical weekly run to Walmart, and then 5-10 more per week from take out restaurants, the asian store, misc shopping, etc. That is about 1 bag per person per day for our family of 4. Of course we don't buy a bunch of junk like the typical household. I have to say that the landfill footprint of plastic bags is probably dwarfed by wasteful packaging on food and other consumable products and people buying tons of stuff that ends up in the landfill.

 

[RonBoyd]

I have to say that the landfill footprint of plastic bags is probably dwarfed by wasteful packaging on food and other consumable products and people buying tons of stuff that ends up in the landfill.

Now that plastic bags are biodegradable it probably is less important than it used to be.

On that subject, however, we have two trash containers supplied by the city -- one for "trash' and the other for "recycle stuff." The "trash" one is on a weekly schedule for pick-up and the "Recycle" is every other week. Our "Recycle" is always overflowing when they pick-up. The "trash" container, on the other hand, only needs to be dragged out to the street every 3-4 weeks. (Except, of course, during yard cleaning.)

All our neighbors have overflowing "trash" containers every week and rarely (if ever) put out the "Recycle" one.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We have so many fabric bags they should tax them (I think they became a substitute for the souvenir teeshirt at some point). I don't know why CVS would charge a fee ($1 for the card) to encourage people to bring their own bags--that's weird.

I've learned to tell clerks I don't need a bag right away--if they already start shaking one open for my stuff, they usually throw it in their trash rather than save it for the next customer, which is a lot worse than me taking it home and reusing it.

The ubiquitous plastic water bottles are even worse than plastic bags in my opinion (like we MUST have hydration available to us 24/7 or we'll die! Why didn't we do this before 1985 or so then?). We were in a state park a few years ago and looked out over a beautiful small ravine. Looking down we saw probably 100 water bottles that people had tossed down. They're around forever too, and unlike plastic bags they really don't have too many other uses in your house.

 

[FUEGO]

They're around forever too, and unlike plastic bags they really don't have too many other uses in your house.

Not true! You can mix up sauces in them, store liquid food items in them, reuse with water or other drinks (crystal lite/tang). If it gets lost somewhere, who cares? It only cost $0.16!

A couple of the small 1/2 L water bottles came in handy for some eastern NC bbq sauce I made recently. We were at a loss for how to mix and store long term this vinegar and pepper sauce, then we emptied a couple water bottles out and proceeded to mix up the sauce (which is still good and sitting in our fridge).

 

[Bestwifeever]

Not true! You can mix up sauces in them, store liquid food items in them, reuse with water or other drinks (crystal lite/tang). If it gets lost somewhere, who cares? It only cost $0.16!

A couple of the small 1/2 L water bottles came in handy for some eastern NC bbq sauce I made recently. We were at a loss for how to mix and store long term this vinegar and pepper sauce, then we emptied a couple water bottles out and proceeded to mix up the sauce (which is still good and sitting in our fridge).

I'm sorry, Fuego, you're going to have to prove to me that plastic bottles can be reused. Please send a bottle of the bbq sauce to me immediately (it sounds delicious).

 

[Milton]

Here in the frozen north, a lot of places are now "going green" and charging $.05 per bag.

Yeah, that's been the case for the past 11 months (see Loblaws, Sobeys put a wrap on plastic bags). And of course it is now a legal requirement in socialist, greener-than-thou Toronto.

 

[RonBoyd]

Not true! You can mix up sauces in them, store liquid food items in them, reuse with water or other drinks (crystal lite/tang). If it gets lost somewhere, who cares? It only cost $0.16!

Yikes! How do you sterilize them? They are not exactly dish washer friendly.

 

[FUEGO]

I'm sorry, Fuego, you're going to have to prove to me that plastic bottles can be reused. Please send a bottle of the bbq sauce to me immediately (it sounds delicious).

No can do. I have a bunch of pig in the freezer that is dying to get cooked and it will be naked without its sauce. I'm also relying on pork bbq to work up my swine flu immunity and all.

 

[FUEGO]

Yikes! How do you sterilize them? They are not exactly dish washer friendly.

I usually don't actually wash out the bottles and reuse them. The bbq sauce was made in 2-3 brand new, freshly dumped out water bottles. Besides, the vinegar would kill anything that was growin in there anyway.

For water or other personal drinks, just use em for a while then toss. However I'm sure you could fill them partially with hot water and dish detergent then shake to get them clean if you really wanted to. I don't re-use them often enough to actually bother with washing them out.

I look at it like this: would I rather pay $0.16 for a water bottle I can use for a while then toss (or lose), or pay $10+ for a similar functioning Nalgene-type water bottle that I would hate to lose or break (and still have to wash)?