I'm more concerned about paper grocery bags. My front end manager told me last year that a single paper bag costs as much as four plastic bags, and I almost never see anyone reusing them. Besides that, I constantly see customers using a double paper bag for two rolls of paper towels, and kleptomaniacal seniors sneaking away with 15 or 20 bags when no one is looking. Apparently, our store spent $1 million on grocery bags in 2007, which comes to about $2,500 for every employee. OTOH, we offer canvas bags for $0.99, which can hold 30 pounds of groceries easily, and deduct five cents from the bill for every bag the customer uses.
Even if one ignores the environmental issues of paper and plastic bags, a gradual shift towards reusable bags might make sense economically.
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