Number of plastic bags used at Lowe’s stores drops nearly 60 per cent

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Published June 3, 2020 at 11:46 pm

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Lowe’s Canada has seen a significant decrease in the amount of plastic bag use since the company started charging for bags.

In the summer of 2018, the company began charging five cents per bag for plastic bags; the mid-year change resulted in customers using five million fewer bags that year.

Additionally, in 2019, customers at Lowe’s, RONA, and Reno-Depot corporate stores 58 per cent fewer plastic bags compared to 2017—which represents nearly 10 million bags.

“At Lowe’s Canada, we are committed to reducing our environmental footprint, which includes decreasing the amount of waste from our operations going to landfills,” Jean-Sébastien Lamoureux, senior vice-president of Public Affairs, Asset Protection and Sustainable Development at Lowe’s Canada, said in a news release.

“Two years after implementing these measures, we are proud to report that charging for plastic bags and spreading awareness across our stores has helped change our customers’ shopping habits,” he continued.

Further, the company has been donating all the money earned from the sale of plastic bags to Nature Conservancy of Canada to support conservation work across the country.

Between June 2018 and December 2019, these profits amounted to more than $125,000.

“From salmon streams in New Brunswick, to the forests and rivers of Quebec, vital prairie grasslands, and mountains of the West, Nature Conservancy of Canada is working to protect the natural areas that support our plants, wildlife and communities. Nature Conservancy of Canada empowers people to safeguard the lands and waters that sustain life, such as Covey Hill, Quebec; Fort Ellice, Manitoba; and Musquash Estuary Nature Reserve, New Brunswick,” Aaron Bilyea, chief marketing officer at Nature Conservancy of Canada, said in the same release.

“We are grateful for the support of Lowe’s Canada. While deterring the use of plastic bags, Lowe’s Canada is also contributing directly to the work of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, helping us to continue to protect the species and natural spaces that Canadians love,” he continued.

Cover photo courtesy of Lowe’s Instagram 

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