Shoppers Drug Mart to eliminate single-use plastic bags from stores
If you find yourself going on a grocery run to Shoppers Drug Mart this week, don’t forget to bring a reusable bag.
The Canadian retail pharmacy chain has announced its plans to eliminate single-use plastic shopping bags from its store.
It says it’ll begin to transition away from plastic bags across all of its stores starting on January 31, and is encouraging customers to bring their own reusable bags when shopping.
“Our commitment to fight climate change by reducing our carbon footprint is an important part of our company’s purpose,” said Pat Dean, senior vice president of front store and category management at Shoppers Drug Mart, in a statement on Monday.
“Cleaner communities make for healthier communities, and we’re pleased to do our part to reduce the amount of single-use plastic entering our natural environment.”
If you do forget to bring your own bags, don’t worry; Shoppers says there will also be a variety of reusable alternatives available at checkout.
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This initiative is part of a number of environmental goals the store has as part of the Loblaw Companies family.
The company says it’s committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, reducing plastic waste by making all of its control brand and in-store packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025, and, sending zero food waste to landfill by 2030.
Shoppers isn’t the only store to do this.
After the Canadian government announced their plan to ban single-use plastics like plastic check-out bags in October 2020, other retail chains like Walmart have executed the transition to reusable bags.
Environment and Climate Change Canada says single-use plastics make up most of the plastic litter that is found in freshwater environments.
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