County-wide 2012 survey finds that only 7% of Prince George’s shoppers
use re-usable grocery bags

            College Park, February 26, 2012.   A survey of shoppers at the major grocery store chains in Prince George’s County found that there’s still a long way to go in reducing the use of disposable plastic and paper grocery bags.  According to the survey by the Prince George’s Sierra Club, only 7 percent of shoppers county-wide are using re-usable grocery bags – 93 percent are using disposable bags, virtually all of them plastic.

            Disposable plastic bags are harmful to wildlife and the environment.  They account for nearly half of all of the trash on the streams leading to the Anacostia River.  Although the bags are offered for “free” at the checkout, they are costly to retailers and those costs are passed on to consumers in the form of higher grocery bills.  Estimates are that shoppers pay from $15 to $38 annually for disposable plastic bags.

            The shopper survey was conducted by volunteers from the Prince George’s Sierra Club at 51 major grocery stores across the county, including all Food Lion, Giant, Safeway, Shoppers Food Warehouse, and Wegman’s stores.  The store exits were monitored for an hour over four weekends, from January 28-February 18, during prime shopping hours.  A total of 7,897 shoppers were observed leaving the stores, of which 93% had only disposable bags, 2% had a mix of disposable and reusable bags, and 5% had only reusable bags.  

            “This survey provides evidence that more needs to be done to reduce the use of single-use disposable bags, and it serves as a baseline for measuring the impact of future actions,” explained Martha Ainsworth, of Bowie, member of the Executive Committee of Prince George’s Sierra Club and organizer of the survey. 

            There have been many attempts to reduce plastic litter in Prince George’s County, from distributing free reusable bags to offering a 5-cent credit for bringing a reusable bag at major chains, like Giant.  “These efforts have made some inroads, but not enough for major behavior change in favor of reusable bags,” according to the Janis Oppelt of College Park, one of the survey volunteers.    

            The Prince George’s delegation in Annapolis is considering passage of a bill (PG 402-12) that would authorize the County Council to consider a five-cent fee on disposable plastic and paper bags.  A similar fee in Washington, DC, reduced disposable bag use by about 80 percent in the first year. The revenue – half of that expected – was used for environmental purposes, including cleanup of the Anacostia River. 

            According to the survey, the highest reusable bag use was found in the northern part of the county – Greenbelt (15%) and Hyattsville/College Park (14%) – while the lowest rates were in the southern county – Accokeek, Brandywine, Ft. Washington, Oxon Hill, and Upper Marlboro (collectively 2.5%).  Bowie and Clinton were in the middle, with 8.6% and 7.2% of shoppers, respectively, exiting with a reusable bag.

Contacts:  Martha Ainsworth (Martha.ainsworth@mdsierra.org), 301-262-8389, Janis Oppelt (janiso@erols.com), 301-474-5358.