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Against the backdrop of pressing climate and environmental concerns, Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina last week announced a pivotal step forward in its sustainability efforts: the elimination of plastic shopping bags across its 51 retail and outlet stores.
Scheduled to be launched on Earth Day, April 22, the campaign comes as part of Goodwill’s response to the urgent need for reducing plastic waste, with the organization offering a range of affordable tote bags for purchase at $1.29 each.
Goodwill employee Jekeliah Craig helps Araceli Medel with her purchase, April 10. Signs are posted at the register announcing Goodwill will stop offering plastic bags on April 22 and instead sell reusable bags if customers need a bag.
“I’m happy that they’re taking an extra step,” said a 50-year-old Winston-Salem resident Daniel Desautels on Tuesday, as he was shopping at the Goodwill store. “I would be happy to see them and as well as any place that can afford to take that step toward a better environment.”
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, approximately 4.20 million tons of plastic bags, sacks, and wraps were generated in the U.S. However, only 0.42 million tons were recycled, resulting in a recycling rate of 10 percent for these three categories.
Goodwill employee Jekeliah Craig places a customer’s purchases in a disposable plastic bag, April 10.
From the manufacturing process, plastic bags present considerable risks to the climate and the environment. The production of single-use plastics from fossil fuels results in significant greenhouse gas emissions, with the extraction and transportation of these fuels to plastic factories estimated to emit between 1.5 and 12.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gasses.
Due to their non-biodegradable nature, single plastic bags release toxic chemicals derived from petropolymers, contaminating our ecosystem over time. They also jeopardize wildlife, leading to entanglement and ingestion incidents that impact numerous species.
Goodwill employee Jekeliah Craig places a customer’s purchases in a plastic bag, April 10. Goodwill will stop offering plastic bags on April 22 and instead sell reusable bags if customers need a bag.
Sara Butner, communications manager of Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina, which includes all the stores in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, noted that their 51 retail and outlet stores collectively ordered over 17 million plastic bags last year.
“Obviously there are a lot of people who reuse plastic bags in their homes and for other things,” Butner told the Journal. “But that’s still a lot of plastic bags ending up in landfills.”
With the beginning of the campaign, Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina will no longer order plastic bags, she added. To initiate the effort, the first 25 customers at each of its 51 stores on Earth Day will receive a free reusable tote bag with their purchase.
Goodwill employee Jekeliah Craig helps customer Bethany Spainhour with a purchase, April 10. Goodwill will stop offering plastic bags on April 22 and instead sell reusable bags, pictured at left, if customers need a bag.
In line with Northwest NC, Goodwill of Central NC, which covers Guilford County, will stop using plastic bags this summer. Central NC Goodwill told the Journal that they will share more information about when the campaign will start in the next few months.
Meanwhile, Goodwill’s initiatives point to a potential economic advantage for the organization.
Mark Curtis, associate professor of the Economics Department at Wake Forest, noted that by not needing to purchase plastic disposable bags, “clearly reduce Goodwill’s cost.”
“How it affects their bottom line will depend on how many tote bags they sell and the difference between their selling price and the cost Goodwill pays to acquire them,” Curtis wrote in an email.
He also cautioned against possible “unintended consequences,” citing the example of California.
In 2014, California implemented a ban on disposable bags in grocery stores, except for those that are recyclable. However, customers began using thicker and heavier plastic bags, which were exempt from the ban under the assumption that they would be recycled. Unfortunately, these bags were never actually recycled, leading to a record high tonnage of discarded bags in 2021.
“As a result, the overall effect of the plastic bag ban was less than what the policy makers expected,” Curtis wrote. “While overall there will be less plastic bags, it is always important to consider the unintended consequences of a decision like this!”
Chaewon Chung covers climate change and the environment in the Triad and Northwest North Carolina. Her work is funded by a grant from the Green South Foundation and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
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Goodwill employee Jekeliah Craig helps Araceli Medel with her purchase, April 10. Signs are posted at the register announcing Goodwill will stop offering plastic bags on April 22 and instead sell reusable bags if customers need a bag.
Goodwill employee Jekeliah Craig places a customer’s purchases in a disposable plastic bag, April 10.
Goodwill employee Jekeliah Craig places a customer’s purchases in a plastic bag, April 10. Goodwill will stop offering plastic bags on April 22 and instead sell reusable bags if customers need a bag.
Goodwill employee Jekeliah Craig helps customer Bethany Spainhour with a purchase, April 10. Goodwill will stop offering plastic bags on April 22 and instead sell reusable bags, pictured at left, if customers need a bag.
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