New and old plastic bags from Market Basket.

The Newburyport “Plastic Bag Ban” goes into effect March 29, 2015. Market Basket ran out of plastic bags and is already started with the plastic bag ban.

You can bring your recyclable bags, or get paper bags, paper boxes or pay 10 cents and get a recyclable plastic bag with handles that meets the new plastic bag ban law.

New plastic bag from Market Basket (press image to enlarge)

The new plastic bags at Market Basket are thicker, slightly larger, reusable and recyclable, they, “consists of 80% post consumer recycled material resulting in a 60% reduction in CO2 emissions. The bag “has been manufactured for multiple recuse and recyclability,” and continues to say on the bottom in LARGE letters, “After use life, please return to your local store for recycling.”

It appears that Market Basket listened to the Newburyport Commission on Disabilities who asked the folks who backed this idea to please make sure that there was a plastic bag that had handles. No one at all the meetings I went to seemed to listen or care–but Market Basket did. Good for them!!

This is what I have been asking for all along. So thank you Market Basket for being so responsive and responsible, both to your customers and to the “plastic bag ban folks” and to the environment.

Previous post on plastic bags can be read here.