For the love of all that is good on planet earth could everybody please stop using plastic shopping bags and do their best to bring their own water bottles, food containers, and dining utensils. Please consider sending an email like the one below to your local retailers and encourage them to do what they should already be doing… charging for plastic shopping bags.

Dear Company X,

As a longtime and frequent customer I strongly suggest you start charging for plastic shopping bags and:

1.) Place signs regarding your effort to reduce plastic shopping bags at each register which encourage customers to support your stores noble efforts to reduce its overall environmental footprint.

2.) Sell reusable shopping bags at each register, you can prominently display them next to those nice signs. Provide customers with an option: pay for every single plastic shopping bag you take for the rest of your life or buy one that can be used many times.

3.) Make sure the single use shopping bags you do sell are non-toxic and biodegradable. You can also use your clout as a retailer to pressure your suppliers to send you things packed in non-toxic and biodegradable packaging. Better alternatives to plastic bags and plastic food trays do exist so please start using them.

As for the few ignorant and/or selfish people who will complain about you charging them for plastic shopping bags, if you talk with your competitors about how you can work together to reduce your environmental footprints starting with working to eliminate the use of plastic shopping bags these ignorant and/or selfish people will have no where else to go so don’t cave under the pressure of a few bad apples because we the vast and rapidly growing majority have your back.

Thank you for doing what’s right regarding this and with other social and environmental issues,
Your Name