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Walmart is Removing Plastic Bags From All Their Stores

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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. 

Walmart Bags
image via Belen Strehl/Shutterstock

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 

walmart bag
image via dennizn/Shutterstock

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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111 comments on “Walmart is Removing Plastic Bags From All Their Stores”

  1. Sharron Dickson

    First you take away clerks and now you want to take away the the shopping bags. Well I will be taking my business elsewhere. Thank you very much.

  2. Go back to brown paper bags, as they were recyclable. Why did we ever go to plastic bags, or anything else if they weren’t recyclable? We humans ruin everything. We are the ones destroying everything!!

    1. Jeri Levasseur

      You don’t remember? We went plastic because we were killing trees for the paper. So, now we go back to killing trees.

  3. I’m suspicious of Walmart CEO’s motives. Is it really about the environment, or is it a way to cut costs so they can benefit from the profits? They already make us check ourselves out and now we will have to bring our own bags? I better see some serious price cutting or I’ll start shopping elsewhere. In addition, I reuse those sacks to carry lunch, line the bathroom trash can, pick up dog mess when walking them, and as packing substitute for bubble wrap.

  4. Libby Torgerson

    Why not recycle the bags. We have a grocery store that has a bin for used plastic bags. When customers come to the store they would bring their old bags and put into the bin for recycle

  5. I have mixed feelings…..yes we can do without plastic bags on the other hand if we buy just one item…on the go…..the plastic bag does comes in handy…..

  6. So, I use them when I clean out the kitty litter. Will I be able to use the “beyond the bag” to do this too?

    1. Libby Torgerson

      I buy the brown paper lunch bags and clean my cat litter box into a bag, seal it and put it in the trash can outside.

  7. While I agree that plastic bags are TERRIBLE for the environment and should be gone, let’s look at ho we got here: Years ago, some environmentalist group wanted to save (trees a superbly renewable resource) and worked to have them removed from stores and replaced with plastic bags. The Law of Unintended Consequences kicked in and we had plastic bags all over the environment. Now in many places, we’re back to paper. We use reusable bags; hope that’s enough!

  8. Margaret Jennings

    My daughter in law gave me a bag that shows the following: LYNNHAVEN RIVER NOW .. restoring a legend … then under that it says:
    I used to be water bottles.

  9. Rondon Allen

    Don’t mind bringing my own bags but they’re so bulky they take up space in the cart. Perhaps a hook on the cart to hang them on would help. Menards use to have great plastic bags. They didn’t break, thicker plastic. I saved them and reuse them. Paper sacks are great as they degrade. They can also be made from recycled material and paper sacks much like a lot of paper is from trees that are replanted in farms that are used for such purposes.  They don’t just wipe out forests anymore. Fires do that.

    1. Yes. We too use them for small garbage cans, cleaning the car out, carrying lunches to work… definitely being recycled or finding additional uses.

    1. Kathleen Quinn

      I have cloth publix bags and I use them everywhere I go,  they wash well and are eco friendly.  I aso have a few from target and walfreens.  best investment I ever made.

    2. So you wash them you buy them you carry them every where you go… doesn’t sound convenient at all… yes I think paper is the solution

  10. kathy Planinsek

    Use bags that dissolve after a short time..Give a dime off if you bring your own bag…paper bags are still here…

  11. Karen Pennebaker

    Paper bags – you can make paper with hemp, bamboo, wood, recycled paper, etc… paper bags are also biodegradable. Simple solution: go back to what works!

  12. Janice Joplin

    Do away with them and just like they used to charge customers for bags, instead give them a credit for bringing their own bags.

  13. Bring your own shopping bags. How hard is that? There are all kinds of shopping bags out there to buy that can be used over again. Or, make your own, Get the kind that suits you and use them. Problem solved. I’m not getting why this is a problem.

  14. Cloth bags that Walmart sells are cheap, sturdy, durable, long lasting and all it takes is to carry several inside of one when we walk into any store – – – I wrote about having larger checkout spaces to do our own checkout and still think that is important to customers – but these cloth bags are a great option to plastic bags AND a LOT easier to carry into our homes or out to cars or wherever we want them to go…….over and over and over………..

    1. If they could make those bags with a sturdy bottom it would help. Don’t mind using them, just don’t like the sag when you pick them up.

    1. I also use the bags for garbage. When they are gone i will have to buy bags for garbage. Will still have the plastic just from another source.

  15. Helen Letchworth

    Then provide paper sacks, 1st they want you to check yourself out,now bring your own bag…want us to stock the shelves for you next?

  16. So, how will groceries be delivered to your car for curbside? I can see them putting the items in your car one at a time. NOT.  Or is this service going away too?

    1. You can get boxes or go to the Dollar Tree or the 99 cent store and buy a couple, 3 or 4 bags.

  17. They already eliminated the plastic bags from all Wal-Mart stores here in Puerto Rico where I live just to replace them with other plastic bags that they sell to us at 10 cents a bag. So its not really about environmental safety or concern its just they cut down on the companies cost of plastic bags and now thry will charge the public for them

    1. Charging a minimal fee (5 cents) is a state law in VA and many other states. I doubt that a nickel is enough to keep shoppers from using them.

    1. I have seen paper bags with handles. making them reusable,
      maybe it was a pilot program because I haven’t seen any in
      a few months. They were nice. I bring my own bags, which
      I prefer

    2. Paper bags with handles are good for lightweight purchases, but rip easily when you put more than a few groceries-cans, bottles, large pieces of meat. etc. in them. I have had the handles break and faced a mes to clean up.

  18. Nadine Froderman

    Go back to paper bags (Yes, I know, that means more trees) or make biodegradable bags. We reuse our bags. I am disabled and can carry only lightweight packages, so handles on paper bags might help.

  19. Have used Walmart canvas bags and they last – problem is not bags – it is lack of counter space to check our own carts of groceries and end up with our stuff on the floor until we have room in our cart to put our items into cart after they are checked – if Walmart wants us to do all the work it is time they lower prices and make room so we can work and follow health laws too…for our own safe

    1. well with walmart getting rid of cashiers you will be bagging your own at the register so it would be easier . its as you say the cloth, reusable are not big enough  and as it is would need several to tally it all up

  20. First they make us check ourselves out, then they charge us for the bags, then they take the bags away. Sick and tired of the greed. Used to be the customer was right and were appreciated but not any more.

  21. Jill Campbell

    Oh I will gladly bring my own shopping bags WHEN Walmart rings up my purchase!! So tired of not having cashiers !!!  Or give me a price break like 10% off for being my own associate!!

  22. Cynthia Allen

    Grocery bags are nearly always re-used, I personally use them for my trash, used litter, and when selling things at craft shows and online for porch pick ups, packing items for re-sell, and more. I always run out and have to buy more online. Now I will have to spend even more money buying bags, or shop where they DO use plastic bags. If they want to cut back on plastics, get rid of bottled water, more rivers and streams and oceans are clogged up by them than any amount of grocery bags, or any other plastic.

  23. We here in Germany are using more and more bags made of fabric tarpaulin. The companies make their advertising on it, have a flat bottom and are foldable. This material is very hard-wearing and because the bag, which is available in three different sizes, costs a small amount, people take better care of it. They are reusable and can be washed out with a rag and even disinfected with spray disinfectant.

    Another variation are fabric bags. However, they have the disadvantage that they do not stand due to their shape and strength and they cannot be filled as well. However, they are washable in the washing machine. It is also easier to fold them up to save space and take them with you.

    Every type of material and texture has its advantages and disadvantages. A combination of both atres wouldn’t be bad.

  24. I prefer the paper bags myself sure maybe you can only carry two at a time but one bag equals about four of those stupid little plastic bags.

  25. If Wal-mart & other stores would teach cashiers / baggers the right way to pack a bag..there would be less waste…I went last week & the cashier was putting 1-2 items per bag, or putting 3-4 but then doubling the bags up!!

  26. Janice Williams

    the should also do away with everything that is plastic, like for Milk , Juice and go back to glass like we did years ago

  27. Janice Williams

    Paper Bags were always better you can Burn them without any harm ,use them to cover Books & a lot of other thing s with them

  28. If you gave cloth bags for a year free. Your investment well help the environment, the people, and the farmers.  They will be reused, washed and a good way to advertise for all the different companies logos on the sides.  Thank you

  29. What about paper grocery bags?  Are they forbidden, too?  I am just trying to imagine how terribly many canvas bags it would take to hold all our biweekly groceries.  And meat juice and other oozes — ugh! As if there isn’t enough laundry.  Now I will use more energy doing more laundry . . . also not good for the environment.  I think I am going to start hoarding my own plastic bags for future use.

  30. I think they need to bring back paper bags with handles. Reinforce the handle, so they don’t break loose, or rip. Get rid of plastic. Some idiot years ago said paper is bad for the environment, so they come upwith plastic. They were sooooooo wrong. Paper is stronger. Plastic has broke open and the entire items hit my foot and hurt like hell.

  31. Elsie Tenney

    And yet I bought plastic bags at Walmart yesterday for my items.  Walmart was selling at check out.

  32. Teresa Trotter

    Make bags out of HEMP , its super strong , its durable and if I am not mistaken its ALSO BIODEGRADABLE . 

  33. I see a number of people support using paper bags….paper bags come from trees – have you seen the price of lumber lately???? The shortage of trees will cause the cost of paper bags to go up, too. I’m with the people who reuse the plastic bags in garbage cans.

  34. Sandra Gustafson

    I very quickly got used to bringing reusable bags to the grocery store. It shouldn’t be difficult to expand the concept to all shopping. I am one of the people who reuse what NYS refers to as single use bags. I think more people do this than the article states. I would have them available for very small purchases rather than the insane overuse that caused them to be such a problem. 

    I think the bigger problem is our overuse of unnecessary packaging. Consider this: I go to a store to buy a gallon of milk, a jug of laundry detergent, a bottle of ketchup, a jar of peanut butter, and package of GARBAGE BAGS. I get to check out and am told that a flimsy carrying bag is bad for the environment. Well, yes it is BUT…

  35. Robin Daniels

    I use my reusable bags.I would rather use paper for other things.When I was little we only used paper..It may not be convenient for some but 1 million tons of plastic end up in the Ocean every year. The amazing ocean creatures are dying in record numbers due to either getting wrapped up in plastic or digesting it. Plastic my be easier to use but its destroying the planet & I think we’ve done enough damage as it is…

  36. Why not just keep fabric bags or foldable shopping baskets in your trunks to put the shopping in? Through visiting family in Germany,  I haven’t really seen plastic bags in years. The ones to buy are designed to be reused.

    1. Fabric bags do not hold up for long either. Paper bags have worked very well and still do.

    2. I invested in canvas ties and they are very sturdy. Longer handles I can put over my shoulder and actually carry more. I can toss them in the Sasha Don they are good to go!

  37. 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….

  38. Walmart bags are reused for many purposes and it’s a shame  to do away with them. Will they be providing paper bags instead?

  39. Carolyn Bridges

    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.

    1. 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.

  40. 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.

  41. numbersrunner

    Gee. I’ve been recycling plastic bags for personal uses for years. I hope there will be time to find another source of them.

  42. Nikki Oltjenbruns

    Sam’s Club doesn’t use plastic bags! Make people bring their own or use boxes.

    1. Plastic bags were never liked! Things smashed into things, rolling out the door at home…I hate them! Paper. Paper.NoMORE !

    2. Jienelle King

      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.

    3. 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.

    1. 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.

    2. 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.

    3. Diana Lynn Montgomery

      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

  43. 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.

    1. 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. 

    2. 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.

    3. I’m thinking of Third World countries that create items for sale using discarded bag.

    4. Priscilla A. Jenkins

      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.

    5. 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

    6. 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.