Apple Stores to use paper, not plastic, bags in environmental push, report says
Like many retailers looking to go green, Apple reportedly plans to phase out its familiar plastic shopping bags in mid-April, with the drawstring design to be replaced by environmentally friendly paper bags made out of recycled materials.
Apple informed retail employees of the upcoming policy shift in an email on Monday, noting the change will be made effective on April 15, reports 9to5Mac. The letter was supposedly sent out by Ricialg Panlaqui who, according to her LinkedIn profile, works as a visual marketing project manager at Apple.
The letter goes on to direct personnel to Apple's Environmental Responsibility webpage for further information.
Apple has long touted efforts to minimize -- in some cases offset -- its impact on the environment, from using renewable and safe materials in manufacturing to designing minimalist, eco-friendly packaging for its various device lineups. Considering the sheer number of products purchased at the average Apple Store, the current shopping bags, while beneficial to brand awareness, likely require huge amounts of plastic to produce. A greener alternative was introduced with the custom Apple Watch totes introduced last year, as seen above.
As Apple's eco-friendly efforts apply to packaging, the company last year purchased more than 36,000 acres of vulnerable forest in Maine and North Carolina, with an eye on using the land to harvest sustainable materials for paper production. To limit impact on the world's virgin fiber resources, Apple later expanded the forestry program to include 1 million acres of managed land in China.
Most recently, the company released its annual Supplier Responsibility report for 2016, which noted new energy efficiency programs prevented more than 13,800 metric tons of carbon emissions.
Apple informed retail employees of the upcoming policy shift in an email on Monday, noting the change will be made effective on April 15, reports 9to5Mac. The letter was supposedly sent out by Ricialg Panlaqui who, according to her LinkedIn profile, works as a visual marketing project manager at Apple.
We're committed to leaving the world better than we found it. One bag at a time. So on April 15, we'll switch to paper shopping bags made from 80 percent recycled materials. These bags come in medium and large.
When customers are buying a product, ask if they need a bag. They may decide they don't. And you'll encourage them to be even more environmentally friendly.
If you still have plastic bags in stock, use them before you switch to the new paper bags.
The letter goes on to direct personnel to Apple's Environmental Responsibility webpage for further information.
Apple has long touted efforts to minimize -- in some cases offset -- its impact on the environment, from using renewable and safe materials in manufacturing to designing minimalist, eco-friendly packaging for its various device lineups. Considering the sheer number of products purchased at the average Apple Store, the current shopping bags, while beneficial to brand awareness, likely require huge amounts of plastic to produce. A greener alternative was introduced with the custom Apple Watch totes introduced last year, as seen above.
As Apple's eco-friendly efforts apply to packaging, the company last year purchased more than 36,000 acres of vulnerable forest in Maine and North Carolina, with an eye on using the land to harvest sustainable materials for paper production. To limit impact on the world's virgin fiber resources, Apple later expanded the forestry program to include 1 million acres of managed land in China.
Most recently, the company released its annual Supplier Responsibility report for 2016, which noted new energy efficiency programs prevented more than 13,800 metric tons of carbon emissions.
Comments
Kill a tree or fill a landfill?
Environmentalists are never satisfied.
Killing trees isn't so bad when you also plant them to ensure a steady supply in a sustainably managed way. Not to mention use of recycled paper so that it doesn't take as many trees to begin with. It isn't about being satisfied. It is about improving upon what you are doing if a better method comes along.
Paper might use more energy but none of the energy or materials used need* to have ground input.
So Paper can be made closed environmental cycle where as plastic requires well below topsoil inputs to be made.
*They probably do use buckets and buckets of ground carbon and that should be Apple's next mission once they hit all paper packaging.
I was shopping in Nantucket when they had one of their many monsoonal downpours my environmentally friendly paper bags (with clothes in them) literally fell apart!
Rethink this Apple give people the option.
Sorry, it's gotta be plastic, I reply with a grin on my face. Easier to carry and much more convenient, planet Earth be damned.
I've probably written this before, but one of my goals in life is to drastically increase my carbon footprint and get it more in line with the overall consumption level of various heroes of the green movement, such as Apple board member Al Gore. I still have a long way to go before I can ever catch up with him, but I am working on it. It's not easy, but patience is required.
That being said:
Any idiot knows that a car driven by an electric motor is clean and has no emissions. You can claim that they use fossil fuels to charge the battery except in most European countries, New Zealand, and most of Australia where their energy is 100% renewable and clean (New Zealand uses natural gas, thermal, hydro, and wind). It's dirty old America that is lagging behind in clean tech. Hell China is catching up and will surpass you soon.
Incidentally a petrol engine at best is ~35% fuel efficient, diesel is at best ~75%, whereas electric cars are ~95% and use nothing when parked up in a traffic jam. So whatever issues electric cars have they are offset by the benefits in general.
looking at the photo of the new bag, I'm not so sure it can be recycled because of the coating. It may be made from 80% recycled paper pulp but it may not be recyclable.
Where i live plastic grocery bags are banned and paper bags cost money at checkout. I now have to buy plastic bags as trash bags, whereas before I could recycle my grocery bags. It's stupid...
When it comes right down to it the right course of action is to avoid disposable bags in the first place. This seems to make more sense to me.