To: Larry Merlo, President and CEO, CVS and John T. Standley, CEO, Rite Aid

Drug Stores: Reduce Plastic Bag Waste!

CVS and Rite Aid, please make it your policy that cashiers ask customers whether they would like a bag. If they would like a bag, they should ask whether they want a double bag instead of automatically double-bagging.

Why is this important?

Every time I go to the Rite Aid in my neighborhood, I see a person ahead of me in line handed a plastic bag carrying one item: sometimes a toothbrush or a greeting card that would fit easily into their purse or backpack is even double-bagged. When it's my turn in line, I have to be vigilant to make sure the cashier doesn't give me a bag for one item, or that they let me place multiple items in the bag I carry with me before they automatically bag my purchases.
Unneeded plastic bags waste valuable resources: for one thing, 12 million barrels of oil are used in their production each year, according to the Wall Street Journal. And they contribute to the vast amount of trash removed from the places we live every day, which require fossil fuels to transport. Plastic bag litter harms numerous species in our environment. Plastic bags are not free because they cost taxpayers millions of dollars in litter cleanup and trash removal. This is something we can change with a simple shift in the policy and training of employees so that they can ask customers, "Would you like a bag?"
Some might say they re-use the bags. I re-use them myself, but even with trying to reduce the number I use all the time, I have never once run out or needed to purchase trash bags. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the average American family takes home 1,500 plastic shopping bags a year. In addition, a tiny portion of these plastic bags are recycled-- less than 5%, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
This is a place where drugstores across the country can take leadership very easily and make an impact.