What's happened to Bring Your Own Bag day in supermarkets?

Straits Times Forum 6 Jan 09;

I FREQUENT an NTUC FairPrice supermarket near my home. When it first started its environmental initiative, it designated every Wednesday as Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB) day. Customers who did not take along their own bags were encouraged to buy re-usable ones or donate 10 cents for every plastic bag they used.

At that time, it created unhappiness among some customers and even caused the crowds to dwindle on Wednesdays.

Sad to say, this initiative has gone the way of the dodo bird. While FairPrice still gives a 10-cent discount for a minimum $10 purchase if customers use their own bags, the BYOB scheme is now neither enforced nor taken seriously.

The cashiers proceed to bag purchases like it was any other day, and customers have also not bothered to donate money for the plastic bags they use. The only difference on Wednesdays is that there is a can placed near the cashier counters to collect donations.

I believe that there are other participating supermarkets in this initiative, which is supported by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Singapore Environment Council (SEC), and there was even discussion to make every day a BYOB day.

However, it appears that the only retailer who has seriously walked the talk is Ikea, which charges customers for the use of plastic bags - and does so daily and consistently.

Will the supermarkets, NEA and SEC like to comment on this initiative, and whether there are still plans to make every day a BYOB day?

Cindy Tan (Ms)

Green-bagging every day at FairPrice too
Straits Times 9 Jan 09;

I REFER to the Online Forum letter on Wednesday, 'What's happened to Bring Your Own Bag day in supermarkets?'.

We thank Ms Cindy Tan for her feedback on the Bring Your Own Bag Day initiative.

At FairPrice, every day is indeed a Bring Your Own Bag Day. In line with our commitment to caring for the environment, FairPrice has participated in Bring Your Own Bag Day, aimed at reducing plastic bag usage, since it began in April last year. To further encourage customers to adopt the habit, we introduced the FairPrice Green Rewards initiative, which runs daily to reward customers who bring their own bag.

We believe this consistent approach has reaped benefits. We have seen a 100 per cent increase in the level of participation in our Green Rewards programme. Since we introduced the programme in July last year, we have saved about 30 million plastic bags through this initiative.

We believe, over time, it will become second nature for our customers to bring their own bags to pack their purchases at FairPrice.

We are heartened to know that customers like Ms Tan support this initiative and are taking steps to protect the environment we live in.

Gerry Lee
Deputy Managing Director (Group Business)
Chairman, Green Committee
NTUC FairPrice