IKEA Canada’s "Bag the Bag" aims to reduce plastic bag consumption by 50%.
Canadian stores will start charging 5 cents for plastic bags with all proceeds donated to Tree Canada
Canadians take home an estimated 55 million plastic carry out bags a week and IKEA Canada is working to reduce plastic bag use in Canada. IKEA Canada recently announced its commitment towards reducing plastic bag consumption at its stores by 50 percent in the next year. Starting on October 22, 2007, IKEA Canada will begin charging 5 cents for plastic bags. All proceeds from the sale of plastic bags will be donated to IKEA Canada's long term environmental partner – Tree Canada who will use the funds to plant trees throughout Canada and help offset CO emissions.
IKEA will continue to sell its reusable 'Blue Bag' for $1. The Blue Bag, which has been available since 2003 is also made of plastic, but it is durable, strong, and can hold up to 60 kg. IKEA hopes customers will bring it along to carry purchases when they shop at IKEA stores or elsewhere, says an IKEA spokesperson.
"IKEA Canada sees social and environmental responsibility as a pre-requisite for doing good business," says Kerri Molinaro, president of IKEA Canada. "Not only that, our customers are becoming even more environmentally savvy and expecting retailers to operate their businesses in a GREEN way. The plastic bag initiative is one way IKEA is helping to have a positive environmental impact in the areas we do business."
After learning about the positive response to a similar program at IKEA in both the U.K. and the U.S., IKEA Canada commissioned its own survey asking customers about their opinion regarding plastic bag use. When over 70 percent of the respondents indicated that they would support an environmental alternative to help reduce plastic bag use, IKEA listened and took action. The initiative also comes on the heels of a recent Ontario government announcement to work with retailers to reduce the use of plastic bags by 50 per cent by 2012.
IKEA Canada currently goes through 25 million plastic bags across the country and the goal is to reduce it to 12.5 million by the end of July 2008. By charging 5 cents for plastic bags, IKEA Canada hopes that it will encourage customers to bring their own bag, use a reusable blue bag or use no bag at all. However, customers that choose to still purchase a bag can take pride in the fact that the money will not be profited by IKEA Canada but donated to Tree Canada, the largest national organization that plants trees across Canada. This not-for-profit charitable organization has planted over 74 million trees since 1992 and continues to provide educational support to encourage Canadians to plant and care for trees and help reduce the harmful effects of carbon dioxide emissions.
"We congratulate IKEA Canada on this amazing environmental stewardship initiative", says Michael Rosen, President of Tree Canada. "The 'Bag the Bag' program will allow us to restore areas ravaged by fires or other disturbances across Canada through the planting of thousands of trees while reducing the harmful impact of plastic bags in our landfill sites... Bravo IKEA", he said.
For over 10 years, IKEA Canada has worked with Tree Canada through a co-worker tree planting program and to date has planted nearly 14,000 trees across Canada. At maturity, these trees will have absorbed over 2,000 tons of CO. This is the same as the CO generated to power 1,338 homes for a year with electricity or that which is produced by 421 cars driving 20,000 km/year.
Should IKEA Canada reach its goal of reducing plastic bags by 50 per cent, the donation will be enough to plant 153,150 trees helping absorb 25,548 tons of CO emissions over the average life of a Canadian tree. That's the same as taking 4731 cars off the road for one year!
A similar program launched in IKEA stores in the UK in late spring 2006, and most recently the U.S. in March. While reduction figures are still preliminary in the U.S., the UK saw a phenomenal 95 per cent reduction in plastic bags along with huge increases in blue bag purchases. To ensure the program is a success in Canada, IKEA is in the process of securing strong stock availability of blue bags and a seamless cash lane solution for customers at the checkout by the end of October.