Shoppers at IGA in Grenfell will have a number of options to choose from when the single-use plastic bag is longer an option at the local checkout from July 1.
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Grenfell IGA manager Kellie Johnstone said she hopes Grenfell shoppers will respond well to the change when it begins on July 1.
“It's going to be good for the environment,” Ms Johnstone said of the change.
Grenfell IGA currently goes through thousands and thousands of bags every couple of months with the store having to order the plastic bags by the pallet.
While shoppers will have to purchase their own replacements for the single-use plastic bag Ms Johnstone pointed out that they will have a number of options to choose from ranging from as low as 15 cents “but they’re reusable as well”.
Bags costing up to a couple of dollars will also be available from IGA in Grenfell, she said, which would last for much longer and be much better environmentally.
South Australia was the first state to phase the single-use bags nearly 10 years ago, in 2009.
ACT and the Northern Territory were the next to follow suit in 2011, while Tasmania banned them in 2013.
Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia will also ban the bags from July 1 this year.
The NSW Government has refused to ban single-use plastic bags, arguing the moves by the supermarket chains will be enough to reduce plastic bag use.
Last July NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she did not need to ban plastic bags in NSW, “because 80 per cent of plastic bags” will already be banned by the supermarkets themselves.
Woolworths and Coles joined the push to rid Australia of disposable plastic bags last July, and set a deadline of June 30, 2018 for their stores to stop offering them to shoppers.
Woolworths later brought forward that deadline to June 20.
Woolworths give out more than 3.2 billion lightweight plastic bags a year and, according to Clean Up Australia's managing director Terrie-Ann Johnson, Australians use about six billion plastic bags every year.
Instead of single-use plastic bags, stores in Grenfell will now sell a range of alternative shopping bag options, which include thicker reusable versions at the checkout.
Thicker reusable plastic bags at 15 cents each will be the cheapest alternative.
This month Coles and Woolworths stores throughout NSW stepped up their war on plastic, introducing new targets to slash the amount of wrapping on fresh fruit and vegetables as well as tackling food waste.
