Carteret, NJ – Mayor Reiman has announced that the Carteret Office of Community Development, which oversees the Borough’s Clean Communities Program, has partnered with Wakefern Food Corp. and ShopRite of Carteret in creating the “Bag Re-Use Program,” entitling Carteret residents to up to 5 free re-usable shopping bags as part of a new Carteret Clean Communities initiative.
According to Reiman, the program has been made possible through a $15,000 grant from the Carteret Business Partnership, Inc. and $15,000 from Wakefern, which has allowed for the acquisition of over 50,000 re-usable grocery bags. They will be made available at ShopRite of Carteret, where residents may redeem coupons mailed to each Carteret household for up to 5 free bags.
Wakefern and Shop Rite have participated in similar initiatives in the past. In 2008 more than 22 million standard grocery bags were reused by ShopRite customers, and in 2009 that number more than doubled to 47 million. Through a local Clean Communities initiative, Shop Rite of Carteret and Wakefern joined with the Carteret Office of Community Development this Fall to introduce the Bag Re-Use Program, which enables Carteret consumers to take part in the Borough’s efforts to reduce the amount of waste and recyclable material sent to landfills while saving money in the process. To date, similar programs offered by ShopRite have saved customers over $2.2 million off their grocery bill, and in the last two years ShopRite customers have kept 70 million bags out of landfills while fewer resources were needed to create new bags.
“Plastic and other non-reusable shopping bags place an incredible burden on our landfills,” Mayor Reiman said, “and our environment. Through this initiative, we are offering ShopRite customers who are Carteret residents the opportunity to benefit from some considerable savings at their local Shop Rite, while contributing to our efforts towards a cleaner New Jersey. Through the Bag Re-Use Program, a reusable bag that is used once per week will eliminate approximately 2.6 million bags or 28,600 lbs. from our waste stream and county landfill that would have originated in Carteret alone. The benefits to our environment are clear, as is the cumulative savings involved with plastic bag use and disposal.”
