Safeway has previously indicated that they would slowly be getting rid of plastic bags from their stores. They are making the same move that many other stores have made in trying to reduce that plastic waste as much as possible. This creates an environment where customers need to bring their own bags in with them to the store when they go shopping. Or there are other reusable bags to purchase in the store if they aren’t sold out at the time.

Safeway is a company that has made a mission to reduce their carbon footprint and make moves to address climate change with their business actions. Safeway is a company that extends across Canada and there are stores that still have plastic bags but they’ve announced that soon that will be coming to an end.

No more plastic bags at Safeway

This Safeway receipt here indicates that coming May 5th the customers will have to bring their own bags in with them.

Safeway stores in different areas are going to be making this change and if there still are some plastic bags in your store now then come May 5th you might not find plastic bags available at Safeway any longer.

That is one move that they hope to have accomplished by the end of this year, for Sobeys Inc, to try and get rid of those single-use plastic checkout bags finally for good this year at their stores. This includes all of those Safeway locations that are still using plastic bags.

For one store alone they go through hundreds of thousands of plastic bags each year, hundreds of stores will use up hundreds of millions of bags. So when this change goes through then that is going to have a significant impact, when they finally make the move to drop the single-use plastic bags and offer reusable bags instead, and encourage shoppers to bring their own.

This will take hundreds of millions of plastic bags out of the market and landfills.

When is Safeway dropping plastic bags? May 5th. That is a date to remember if you are looking to shop there because you will need to bring your own or look for an option to purchase there. And many others might also be looking to purchase them if they aren’t ready for that change of the plastic single-use bags going away.

Sobeys has been the first national retailer to make that move to get rid of the single use plastic bags for its stores, hundreds of stores which include Safeway stores.

There is roughly 2.8 million tonnes of plastic waste that eventually makes its way to Canadian landfills each year.

There are many other stores that could also make this same move still, but just for Safeway and those other Sobeys stores it is going to have a significant impact overall. That is going to take billions of bags out of the landfills across years when all of the stores finally make this move to get rid of plastic.

If you are going to be going to Safeway to do some shopping, you will want to be aware of the change.

May 5th no more plastic bags at Safeway

Sobeys and Safeway locations make up some of the biggest grocery store chains in the country and they see millions of customers each year. They go through hundreds of millions of bags in just one year alone, and so imagine what this change will mean in 5 years or 10 years from now.

Reusable tote bags are sustainable, offer more customization and design, are more durable, and can save you money over time rather than having to purchase any bags from the store.