Stop & Shop offers "green" bag bounty
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. unveiled two "think green" initiatives today, including one that will pay customers a nickel for bringing reusable bags to the store.
For each shopping bag a customer brings from home to use while shopping - whether it's a paper, a plastic, or a reusable bag - the Quincy-based chain said it will deduct five cents from the total shopping bill, starting May 9.
Stop & Shop, which operates 389 stores throughout much of the Northeast and which is owned by the Dutch food retailer Royal Ahold NV, also announced a reusable-bag promotion with General Mills Inc., the Minnesota consumer-products company known for such brands as Pillsbury baked goods and Green Giant frozen vegetables. (Green Giant's iconic cartoon spokesman is exhibited at right.)
Starting today and running through Thursday, any Stop & Shop customer who purchases $15 worth of select General Mills products in one transaction will receive five reusable bags for free, Stop & Shop said.
General Mills products that are part of the promotion include Hamburger Helper, Green Giant vegetables, Yoplait yogurt, Progresso soup, Old El Paso taco ingredients, and Pillsbury baked goods, Stop & Shop said.
Stop & Shop isn't the only grocery chain to move to a more environmentally friendly bag policy.
In January, Texas-based Whole Foods Market Inc. said it planned to do away with plastic bags all together in its 270 stores by the end of April.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
