Sunday, April 1, 2007

One More Reason I Love IKEA

IKEA has started charging five cents for every bag you use when you check out. I stopped by this morning to get some of my favorite Swedish food and was delighted to see this new policy. Some Americans may not be so pleased, but I've long wondered why we haven't followed the example of the majority of European stores in this way.

I carry cloth bags in my car and use them for shopping as much as possible; and if I forget I try to go without (I'm certainly not perfect about this, but getting better all the time). In most grocery stores I'll receive a five-cent refund for each bag that I bring with me. This makes for a nice incentive (if you know about it) but in most European markets, you are expected to bring your own bag, and you'll be charged a small fee if you need to use the store's paper or plastic.

It's subtle, the difference between a refund and a fee, but nothing wakes up an American like money. Hopefully, stores that make this switch will wake us up to our ability to make a simple choice every day that results in much less waste in our landfills. I think it's neat that IKEA would make such a decision even though it may not benefit the "bottom line".

Would you like to give a shout out to a business that you respect? Post!

3 comments:

pixie said...

I agree wholeheartedly. Trader Joe's enters me in some kind of giftcard raffle each time I bring my own bags in, which is almost every time. I love the nylon bags by Chico best.
My favorite stores are usually not chains, but I must say that I love our southwest Chipotle (which is, I think, a little sister corp to McDonalds-gasp) which advertises farm raised meats without hormones and antibiotics. Even though I generally don't eat meat, I'm glad for those who do.
More consciousness! Aho!

Maggie said...

Yes, Pixie! I have also gained respect for Chipotle (incidentally, I think McDonald's dropped their interest this company recently) not only for sourcing naturally-raised beef and pork, but most recently sourcing 25% of their beans from organic sources. They plan to grow that over time, as organic beans become more plentiful. Kudos to them!

Persephone said...

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