CVS kicks off aggressive green campaign

WOONSOCKET, R.I. (WPRI) - Reusable bags seem to be everywhere these days, but one local company is launching it's most aggressive campaign yet.

Now Woonsocket-based CVS is jumping on the bag bandwagon, promising to make it worth your while to make a purchase without the plastic.

Melissa Studzinski said, "If you scan it on every fourth purchase, you get an extra buck."

Spokesperson Melissa Studzinski is referring to the green bag tag. CVS cardholders can buy the bag with tag attached for just 99 cents. Every four times the green bag tag is used instead of a plastic bag, customers get a coupon for 1 dollar.

"So when we came up with the idea of the green bag tag, the idea is we want to get customers to use more reusable bags or even just decline the use of a plastic bag," said Studzinski.

Many grocery stores give you a nickel back for every reusable bag, but since trips to the drugstore tend to use just one bag, the new payment system seemed to make sense.

Studzinski said, "We know it's the right thing to do, and we've also heard from our customers that they're trying to do as much as they can to help the environment."

Customer Bonnie Wood loves saving the cash and thinks helping the environment are great, but there's another reason she sticks with the reusable bags.

"Because it's easier, it's easier than carting all that plastic back home again," said Wood.

Across the country, CVS gets 5 million customers a day. If every one of those customers uses one of these, that's a lot less plastic in the landfill.