THRIFTY Foods has drawn fire from environmentalists this week for bringing plastic shopping bags back to its North Vancouver store and two other outlets, two years after it banned them in a bid to be greener.
The company reintroduced the disposable bags Wednesday in what it described as a "pilot project" intended to gauge customer demand. The trial will run until the end of October. If the response is good, Thrifty's will likely bring them back more widely.
"We're trying to assess and give our consumers the choice," said Jason Boudewyn, the company's director of retail operations. "This whole pilot is about gathering information."
The chain eliminated plastic shopping bags from its outlets two years ago at a time when B.C. supermarkets were coming under increased pressure to reduce plastic waste, which advocates said was clogging landfills and impacting marine life. The stores offered customers paper bags in the place of plastic and encouraged them to bring reusable cloth carriers.
The move met with resistance, though, said Boudewyn. People often have a hard time remembering to bring cloth bags, he said, and the paper replacements were unpopular with some who felt they were harder to carry and weren't as strong - particularly when the bags got wet.
"I see a lot of people in winter struggling with paper bags," said Boudewyn. "(It) has not been a great alternative."
The reintroduction of plastic this week has been met with a flood of feedback, he said.
"It's been mixed. We're getting customers commenting: 'I'll be shopping at Thrifty's more often.' . . . About the same number are suggesting this is the wrong way to go.
"At the end of the day, we have to listen to what consumers want," said Boudewyn.
Regardless, the chain's primary focus will remain on encouraging customers to bring their own cloth bags, he said. To that end, Thrifty's is putting reminders in its advertising and posting notices in stores; it's giving a three-cent credit to those who bring a reusable carrier; and it will also be giving away 800,000 cloth bags in the near future.
Janice Harris, a former District of North Vancouver councillor who has been an outspoken critic of the use of plastic in stores, was reserved in her criticism of the company.
Thrifty's shift back to plastic was disappointing, she said, but by effectively charging for the disposable bags, the company will be very much on a par with other chains.
In the end, it will be up to government to bring about serious change, said Harris. The province - or, better yet, the federal government - should engage in public consultation, and then hatch a multi-faceted plan to reduce the use of plastic over time, she said.
"Thrifty's shouldn't be struggling on its own," said Harris. "We should all be working together. We have a patchwork quilt right now of businesses trying to do their bit, but it's not enough."
Harris made headlines as a councillor in 2006 when she called publicly for a 25-cent federal tax on plastic shopping bags. Speaking on Friday, she said she was no longer sure that would be the best route.
