Most everyone knows and uses Walmart as their local shopping center. Lately, Walmart has made some pretty big changes. They recently decided to remove plastic bags from the check-out stations at all their stores.
Removing Plastic Bags
Walmart had made a goal recently to be a zero-waste company. That is a massive goal and will take a few years to get in place.
One way to achieve that goal is to stop using plastic bags.
Plastic bags are not good for the environment and it’s time for this change.
According to Walmart, “A shopping bag is at the center of the final interaction of almost every in-store purchase – be that your weekly grocery trip, a quick milk run or back-to-school shopping. While the convenience of the plastic retail bag cannot be disputed, the average working life of one of these bags is only 12 minutes. It’s estimated that 100 billion plastic bags are being used annually in the U.S. alone, and less than 10 percent of them are recycled.”
This goal to stop using plastic bags will take around three years to complete.
Beyond the Bag
To achieve their goal, Walmart has teamed up with “Beyond the Bag” a company that finds ways to eliminate plastic bags that are better for the world.
CVS Health, Walmart, and Target are all a part of this mission.
Beyond the Bag shares their plan of “identifying, testing and implementing viable design solutions and models that more sustainably serve the purpose of the current retail bag.”
How You Can Help
You can help with this initiative too!
Beyond the Bag is wanting to hear your ideas on how to eliminate plastic bags. If you have a creative idea for a new eco-friendly bag, be sure to submit your thoughts!
You can go to Beyond the Bag Challenge to submit your ideas.
Submissions are due by September 10th as they will start getting to work after that.
Plastic bags are just one part of Walmart’s ultimate goal to be zero waste. Are you excited or dreading this new change?
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127 comments on “Walmart is Removing Plastic Bags From All Their Stores”
I have always liked paper bags! Where you put the product…it stays! If I have to bag my own…fine. I will bring my own bags….
Walmart bags are reused for many purposes and it’s a shame  to do away with them. Will they be providing paper bags instead?
I hope they do away with the plastic they break easy. I hope they furnished us with the good good paper bags,also I don’t care for the so called reusable bags because I don’t care how often they are cleaned they are not that sanitary.
Cloth bags are as clean as your clothes are. If your clothes are clean enough to wear, then cloth bags are clean enough to carry food. Most developed countries take cloth bags. We do here in the states, like our grandparents used to.
I could never bring enough to the store
Go back to paper bags (with handles)
I’m very happy. I find them in my trees after the wind takes them.  The bags get caught in the trees so high I can’t remove them. The bags will sit in the tree for months whipping in the wind until the bags are destroyed.
Gee. I’ve been recycling plastic bags for personal uses for years. I hope there will be time to find another source of them.
Sam’s Club doesn’t use plastic bags! Make people bring their own or use boxes.
Plastic bags were never liked! Things smashed into things, rolling out the door at home…I hate them! Paper. Paper.NoMORE !
Paper bags are really not very good. The biggest problem being roaches breed in them. I have not had a roach in my house since they did away with paper bags years ago.
I think it’s great we continue to become environmentally aware of continuous damage we are causing. We can’t even keep appliances for long periods of time. Everything is a waste, humans don’t take time. It will be hard for us to adapt without the bags, but we will adapt, I won’t give up Walmart’s convenience and prices.
Use paper bags.
My grocery store stopped recycling my plastic bags. Our land fill is overrun with blowing bags everywhere. It is time to go back to paper bags. I approve, good move.
Totally agree! But then will come the tree huggers. Why won’t they just make a biodegradable bag, like the post office uses for their annual food drive. The technology is there. I know I know…greed rules.
Ours has to not allowed to recycle them anymore. paper is fine but they are using a lot trees. Use cloth bags they wont break on you
Paper bags worked for decades…
Yes. Yes,
I am not at all happy they are doing away with the bags. They get reused as garbage bags, passed on to thrift stores to be used over again as shopping bags, and I also cut them into strips and either weave or crochet them into waterproof mats to use in the home.
Most do not do that. Go to your local landfill and see how many bags there are just flying about. I went to our local landfill and it was disgusting.
What about all the diapers, plastic used to sell items in that you need a hack saw to get the item out. Everything you buy almost is covered in some kind of unbreakable plastic. Plastic water bottles, ketchup, mustard, mayo, ect.
I’m thinking of Third World countries that create items for sale using discarded bag.
we recycle the plastic bags we get, but I have a collection of canvas bags that i prefer using. they can be thrown in with my laundry and they are kept clean. ShopRite sold them a few years ago, and I also got one from Trader Joe’s.
Agree
If they are going to this new bag (the local Walmart in RI has them) please make the a little bigger so they fit a small waste basket and can be reused and then recycled
Can’t believe you said that!! Where does it go after being used as a garbage bag? Where does it go after it is used at the thrift store? The landfill. And they are so weak you can only use them once and they rip. So the average lifespan of a bag is two uses and then they’re dumped in the landfill.