Everyone loves the environment, and we all want to do our part in keeping it safe. We want to make sure that we make the world a better place for our children and their children. One way that we can do that is to take a look at our local grocery or other retail businesses, and they way that they handle their bags.

Plastic and paper bags may be handy, and cheap to acquire in bulk, but they’re not exactly environmentally friendly. They can take nearly 1,000 years to degrade in landfills, and they don’t degrade well. They usually end up as smaller toxic pieces in our oceans and harming the food chain there. Grocery bags are some of the biggest sources of these plastic-bag landfills, as many individuals just throw them out after using them.

On top of that, plastic bags cost American business, overall, billions every year, money that they could save and spend in other ways. New marketing research, new products, more advertising, all options that could be better invested in. There is a solution to this, and that solution is reusable bags.

Reusable bags can save companies money in the long term, as they have a lifespan 700 times longer than a plastic bag. That means that businesses like grocers don’t have to continuously buy plastic bags in bulk, only to have customers throw them away. Buying reusable grocery bags in bulk also allows the business to get them cheaper than buying them in small quantities. Buying reusable grocery bags in bulk, however, is an investment. Encouraging customers to take them and use them can be like branding. They’ll always see the businesses logo on their bags. And the best part?

The customer is less likely to throw it out.

A way to encourage customers to use these bags is to have your cashiers trained to offer them and to have a wide variety of bag colors for their choosing. Customers are more likely to take reusable bags if the color choice appeals to them. Businesses could also tie in with holidays or awareness events, like breast cancer and pink, which increases the likelihood of a customer taking the bag if offered.

Reusable bags are a clever way to encourage brand loyalty and help save the environment, and everyone loves that!