Going green

During a recent trip outside the country, I noticed that supermarket chains there encouraged its clients to bring their own reusable shopping bags ("green bags") instead of packing the groceries in the ubiquitous plastic shopping bag.

Considering that I spend a little over Php 1,000 bucks on groceries every month (which fits in one or two bags), I never really paid much attention to the availability of green bags here. I decided, however, to check out the grocery chains here to see which ones offer this alternative to customers.

Shopwise has a Reusable Bag Program. The bag costs Php 99.50 each and, if you happen to be a member of their Wiseclub Program (Php 200 fee or accumulated receipts worth Php 5,000), you earn double points everytime you use the bag. Normally, you get one point for each Peso for purchases made from Rustan’s Supermarket, Shopwise, or Royal Duty Free Subic. With the green bag, you get two points! Every 10,000 points = Php 100 (Translated: Php 1 for every Php 100 or Php 2 for every Php 100 if you use the Reusable Bag)

Rustan's also has the same program (it's got the same owner as Shopwise) but it's called Fresh club or something. I don't know because I can't find Rustan's on the web. Seriously. It must also be the reason why I can't find most of the stuff I need in their groceries ;-). The good new is, Rustan's recently announced that it is a partner in the Fernando Amorsolo Retrospective entitled His Art, Our Heart: a look at the finest works of the Philippines' First National Artist. Instead of the usual green bag, Rustan's came out with the Limited Edition Amorsolo Shopping Bags. I got one (for my first green bag!) and it cost me Php 145. Since Rustan's doesn't have a website, I have no idea how its rewards system works. If I were to venture a guess, it should be similar to Shopwise.

SM also has a GreenBag, for its supermarkets and hypermart. Last I heard, shoppers can get their GreenBag for free with every Php 500 purchase of SM Supermarket's yellow tag items, inclusive of one Unilever product. To encourage reuse, SM Advantage cardholders get double points (NB, right now, per my latest rewards pamphlet, you get .5 point for every Php 200 purchase). (Translation: Shopwise/Rustan's rewards program trumps SM, except that you can redeem SM Advantage/BDO Rewards points not only in the grocery but also in the department store and SM affiliates)

Robinson's Supermarket allegedly sells reusable bags to its customers. However, they do not appear to be used in conjunction with any loyalty program or promotion. In any event, I have never seen a single sign in the supermarket in Robinson's Pioneer (my default grocery store) indicating the availability of green bags as an alternative to plastic bags.

For those who just want to use reusable bags with no affiliation, check out Mama Earth (a multiply site), the owner/s of which sell green bags with interesting designs.