Yesterday's Trip to Publix

Yesterday I went for a walk in the evening. On my way out the door, I decided to walk to the Publix and back, so that I could pick up some bananas. So, I headed back into the house, grabbed some money and a used grocery bag, and then hit the street.

The walk was easier than I thought, and the temperature at that hour was pretty pleasant. While at the store, I also picked up a loaf of bread & cream cheese. (Details not completely necessary for the story, but maybe you are interested!)

The store was packed, and the express line looked nightmarish, so I waited in a regular line. While waiting, I saw the cashier toss out a new plastic grocery bag, and I assumed it was broken. She also changed the roll of the register tape when, in my opinion, it still had quite a bit of paper left in it. Her trash can was filled to the max with what seemed to be all plastic bags.

Given my observations, the following should not have been a surprise:

Me (to bagger): "I brought my own bag, thanks, just use this one."

Bagger: Gives me a strange look, but comprehends. Puts bananas, cream cheese in my bag.

Cashier: Bagging my bread in a new bag.

Me: "I brought my own bag."

Cashier: Gives me really strange & confused look.

Me: "I only want to use the bag I brought." Take bread out of new bag.

Cashier: Throws new bag that bread was in for 2 seconds directly into trash.

Me: "Don't throw it out!"

Cashier: Confused. "Why?"

Me: "The point is to not use more bags."

Cashier: Happily. "Oh! Don't worry about it!"

Me: "But I do worry about it."

All: Weird looks all around.

Cashier: Hands me my change. "Sorry about the bags."

Is it her fault? Publix's fault? The American culture's fault? Am I completely nuts? Maybe, all of the above. I want to make it easier to Bring Your Own. Yet another project on my long list of greenerMIAMI initiatives!

FYI, I've talked about plastic bags before.

Comments

[Steve]

I think that change will only come from management of grocery stores. I am sure that employees are taught to use as many bags as necessary to keep the customer pleased, and not overburdened when carrying the groceries (20 feet!) from the car to the kitchen.

Perhaps our time is better spent encouraging local stores managers to consider campaigns to save plastic bags, and to educate their staff on conservation.

Or maybe they'd even let someone donate some time and sit at a table with reuseable bags for sale (our grocery store in syracuse sells them) and offer information on how to reduce consumption and waste.

hmmm... this makes me want to write a letter. Then again, alot of things do...

[Manola BBB]

Doesn't Publix have their own bag recycling program?

[Rebecca Carter]

Publix sells (or has in the past) reuseable canvas bags. They also have a bag recycling program outside. I should have told the girl that I would take those bags and put them in the recycling outside.

I agree about the whole sitting outside the store idea. I've had some of those ideas in the past...just think I need a little more time to get organized on my ideas!

[Manola BBB]

It is doubly annoying that she was throwing out those bags instead of recycling them!

I usually take a large canvas bag when I do small shopping. Heck, my handbag is definitely big enough for a few things. Sometimes at CVS they will bag something the size of a pin. I always say, no bag please. They always look at me weird!

[Jasmin]

Maybe you should write to corporate--I can't imagine all that waste is helping the bottom line.

Good grief, I think I would have had an aneurism in your position. :)

[green la girl]

I guess I'm lucky that we have Trader Joe's all over SoCal -- There, you get entered into a raffle for bringing your own bag. And unlike chain stores like Ralphs, the cashiers and baggers will do their damndest to fit all the stuff in the canvas bag you brought, without even your asking them to do so. The employees have clearly been instructed to do so, as the company itself's all about organic, non GMO foods and a large chunk of their clientele is concerned about enviro issues -- especially the ones who bring their own bags.

Like Steve, I too am wondering if having a lil friendly chat with the manager may be the way to go...

[alesh]

If even a modest number of people were bringing their own bags to Publix, the cashiers and baggers would get it quickly. The problem is that people who bring bags tend to shop at places like Whole Foods. (Where, btw, BYOB is supported and encouraged.)

[aaron]

i've had the exact same thing happen to me twice. the bagger will use a plastic bag even though i have my own bag and when i complain he just threw away the unused bag. i've learned to be quick and tell them before we start the trasaction that i'm not interested in using any of their bags.

[Tere]

I've harassed my local Publix in the past over what I've felt are compelling issues (i.e., where's the raspberry rugelach?!?), and they've always been responsive. As in, the store manager calls me and has an actual conversation with me about it and then tells me who else I can talk to about it.

If you go to www.publix.com, you can send a message to your local store (include contact info), and they'll get back to you. Maybe that's a start!

[Coconut Grove Grapevine]

Publix baggers like to put one item in each bag and when I tell them to pack the bags as full as possible, they look at me like I have three heads. They don't get it.

[Tere]

CGG, they do the same thing to me. The other day, we walked to P and only had the baby's stroller, which meant all the bags had to fit in the basket at the bottom. We bought about 13 items, and there were like 10 bags. Ridiculous. The bag lady looked at me like I was insane when I asked her to use less bags. So when she was done (and had not done as I had asked), I just repacked everything into fewer bags and explained that there was no need to waste so many bags. She was still looking at me like I was a nut job.

[Rebecca Carter]

I know letters to Publix have been suggested, but I haven't done anything yet...have been letting it stew in my brain for a bit.

What if we write up some sort of statement - goals for Publix & other local stores - regarding the use of bags, type of bags, policies, etc. We post this statement online and have people sign it online like a petition.

I'm not being as clear as I'd like on this. Does somebody catch my drift? Let me see if I can come up with a draft soon.

[Manola BBB]

It seems like it would be in P's best interest to do some environmentally friendly campaign. I mean their logo is green, even.

What really drives me nuts ... when they tie knots in the handles of the bags, so that you can't even reuse them!

[Katrina]

I, too have had a similar experience in Publix. Fresh Market in the Grove is good about re-using bags. They even sell canvas and mesh bags at the check out counters. I'm surprised supermarkets don't catch on to all of the money they could save if customers brought their own bags. I think they should give a percentage of the cost of each bag back to the customer. That way there is an incentive for customers to re-use bags and the store is still saving money. C'est la vie.

[Tere]

I was at Whole Foods on Sat, and I was really disappointed in how wasteful they were with the bags. I mean, I bought a lot of baby food, but still...

[Anna]

Hey Rebecca!
Great to rediscover your blog - time to link it to mine so I stay current. Saw your comments on the Good Human, and wanted to high five your idea for a revolution! There are a ton of anti-plastic bloggers out there....

Working through markets is I think key.....would love to brainstorm on this sometime.

Incidentally, Whole Foods here in Santa Monica recently switched to ONLY plastic bags, you can no longer even get a paper bag. Plastic or....plastic? They claim its for "environmental" reasons. Yeah.

[David]

Rebecca, I cannot believe it...I think you are right...a revolution is in order!

[Maria Bolton]

OH MY GOD--I HATE THAT CRAP!!! OK.. good.. I thought it was just me... I FREAK OUT when someone wastes a bag... GAH!!!

[Selah Cooper-Holl]

I bring my bags, including one of those bags that keep cold foods for 4 hours, only to find the bag bandit has wrapped MORE bags around meats already wrapped in plastic around styrofoam trays.

"It might leak," they say. And then? Perhaps I could rinse out the bag?

My personal pet peeve are the bags on rolls in the produce department. Can someone please explain to me why they want us to put veggies and fruits that we are going to wash anyway into plastic bags. I stand in amazement watching shoppers put individual vegetables in these bags that they tear off the roll willy nilly, and toss aside if they don't open easily and oh so very rapidly.

So I've taken to carrying a few paper bags in the canvas grocery bags for use there.

Oh, Nature's Finest gives a twenty cent discount for every bag I bring in.

Enough of us out there bringing our own may educate (read shame) more into thinking before they bag.

[Lizette]

After being looked at oddly by the casher and bag boy at Publix for bringing in used plastic bags to bag the groceries, I decided to use the free canvas bag that Wholefoods gave out on Earth day. I also bought another one at WF which is insulated for cold foods, for $2.79.

What is the resistance to BYOB (bring your own bag)? I even sent Publix an email stating my concerns about their overuse of bags but, surprise, surprise, no response. I for one am glad that I can come home, put away my groceries and not have to think about what the heck I'm going to do with all those bags.

[Teknisa]

Such a relief to find that others feel the same way I do. I moved from wisconsin to Georgia 10 months ago. I couldn't believe that Publix or Kroger doesn't even offer paper bags!! Paper is more common in wisconsin than plastic, and the bagging system is simple. Fill the bag till it's full, cans on the bottom, packaged products in the middle and bread/chips/and eggs on top.

Where I could be taking home 2 or even 1 bag, I take home more plastic bags than I know what to do with. I'm surprised that workers only put one item per bag!! And why are publix bags sooooo small??? It's just irritating to me.

My family even reuses the paper bags to hold other recyclables for the garbage man to take, so the bag gets recycled too.

Even though Publix offers a recycling program for it's bags, do we really need to be taking home that many bags???? UGH!

I actually wrote a complaint about this on the Publix website, before I did a search on the topic. I encourage anyone to write in their concerns. If this issue is addressed enough, perhaps we might beable to get publix to change it's ways.

[Daisy]

This happened to me too. However now they are selling those "Green Bags" so you would the cashier would know that I am suppose to place all my food items in it and not in a plastic bag. I put a few boxes in my "Green Bag" and I guess to normal people it looked too full so the cashier took the smaller food items and put them in a plastic bag, so I held out my hand with a smile on my face as in saying "Give it to me please" and she handed it over with a confused face and I placed it in my Green Bag. I made space for it in there and it didn't even seem over stuffed either.

I just don't understand why if they are tying to sell Green Bags in Publix, they don't teach cashiers what they are meant to be. -Btw, there was no bagger working there so I was bagging it myself in case anyone was wondering.-

[Publix Shooper]

From someone who works at Publix and only shops at Publix I agree will all of you. I also bring my old plastic bags and my NEW GREEN bags with me to shop in the same store I work in and they look at me the same way they do at all of you... like I was nuts. I actually trained some of the cashiers and baggers that don't know how to bag. It bothers me that they can't understand to fill the bags. In Publix training they are told and showed how to bag and that they need to put at least 10 items in each bag. I don't get it... the mgrs watch it happen and don't do anything about it. I do understand that the cashiers and baggers do get the select few picky shoppers that want everything separate and because of that they are afraid of getting yelled at by another shopper for bagging the wrong way... but as far as using the shoppers own bags I don't see how they could get confused. Sorry to ramble but I just wanted everyone to know that Publix doesn't want them to waste bags and that they have all been trained on how to bag. I just wish they would take care of their associates like they TRY to take care of their customers, but that's a whole other forum. :-)

[Anne]

I sent an e-mail to Publix about this because I am tired of the weird looks and uncooperative baggers.

You can send them a message at:
http://publix.com/contact/ContactUs.do

Maybe if enough people contact them they will do something about it.