Borrow a Bag program comes to Valemount IGA

By Spencer Hall

Move over paper bags, a new reusable bag program is launching this week at the Valemount IGA that aims to provide a more sustainable choice to consumers’ current grocery carrying options.

IGA’s Borrow a Bag program will allow Valemount customers to acquire a reusable bag for a 2.99 deposit. Once the bags become dirty or customers are finished with them, the bags can then be returned to the store, where customers will receive their full deposit back.

Valemount IGA owners Blake and Lenora Dunphy say they’re excited to bring the program to their local customers and have even committed to laundering returned reusable bags themselves so residents can participate in the program. 

Blake says the initiative will reduce waste caused by paper bags by offering customers a more sustainable alternative. 

“Each bag is cleaned and reused, creating a sustainable, closed-loop system,” Blake said.

According to IGA’s director of sustainability and logistics Tom Truchan, stores across B.C. went through approximately 2.1 million paper bags last year, with Valemount customers using about 22,000 of them.

“When you look at the fact that it takes one mature tree to make 700 paper bags, and never mind, it takes 700 gallons of water to make those 700 paper bags, that’s a huge environmental footprint for people just opting for the easy paper bag alternative,” Truchan told The Goat.

He said the Borrow a Bag program was developed in response to both federal and provincial government legislation prohibiting single use plastics.

“One thing that the BC government, and actually the federal government called out as well, was the need for the sector to develop circular solutions for plastics. And this is really what this is, a circular solution for reusable bags,” he said.

“Ultimately, it’s up to consumers to make the decision to switch to reusables. We’re trying to eliminate paper as a fallback and creating just one more option for people to make the move.”