Avia Collinder, Business Writer

The Loshusans have not given up on plastic bags; they are still used to bag groceries at their supermarkets. But now customers walk out with plastic that is biodegradable, marking a small step in the retail trade towards a more environmentally friendly way of doing business as the trend for reducing one's carbon footprint takes hold globally.

This year, PriceSmart Inc followed suit at its one store in Jamaica and right across the American-based global chain.

PriceSmart still issues plastic bags, but is no longer dispensing the lightweight variety that it would use to double-bag groceries.

It has chosen instead to sell a more durable bag to its 30,000 customers for J$329 plus GCT for a set of four.

"The bags are made from a plastic material, but unlike single-use plastic bags that are thrown out after every use, these bags can be reused for years, and will not end up littering our rivers, streets and sewers," said Natasha Mahabir, regional marketing/membership manager at PriceSmart Inc.

For PriceSmart, the move makes economic sense.

"It is no secret that eliminating single-use plastic bags will reduce PriceSmart's operating expenses," José Luis LaParte, president of PriceSmart Inc, said in a statement last month to member shoppers across the global chain.

Marketing tool

"It is a very durable bag that we believe is an outstanding alternative to single-use plastic bags. We are selling these bags at our cost and they can also be used for your shopping trips to supermarkets and other stores," PriceSmart advised its mainly middle- to high- income customers.

The Loshusans say that their conversion to biodegradables last year has added, rather than cut, costs at the family-run Sovereign supermarkets at Manor Park and Liguanea in Kingston.

They don't sell the bags to customers.

Liguanea store marketing manager, Gladstone Loshusan, points out that while the new bags and the ones they replaced have roughly the same cost tag for the grocers, the new environmentally appropriate alternatives are less durable and often have to be doubled to secure shoppers' purchases.

Added expenses

But despite the added expense for them, the urge to follow the green trend is still compelling.

"Everybody is going green, so why not join them?" Loshusan said.

Meanwhile, explaining the qualitative difference PriceSmart's recent green move will make, Mahabir said the plastic bags now taken out of distribution were made from oil-based materials which break down into smaller, more toxic polymers with the possibility of entering the food chain through contaminated soil and water sources.

The sheer size of PriceSmart's customer base makes both the business' cost savings and environmental contribution significant.

"If you think about the number of bags that a member uses during one trip to PriceSmart - it is approximately seven to eight bags - and if a member visits us approximately 13 times per year, that calculates to over 3.5 million single-use plastic bags per year on average in some of our smaller clubs.

"In the 25 PriceSmart locations, we have been distributing over 90 million single-use plastic bags," Mahabir said.

"We are living in a world, with tremendous factors such as global warming and depletion of the ozone layer, which have an effect on the environment. We want to leave a world that our kids and grandkids can live in with healthy air and clean water."

Environment programme

Other steps being taken by the retailer as part of a comprehensive environment-enhancing programme indicate that PriceSmart is not simply putting noble justifications to a rational business decision.

The retailer constructed its own water-treatment plant at its Red Hills Road premises. According to Mahabir, "These plants have micro organisms that break down waste in the water before we send it back to the water company, and it helps protect waste from re-entering our water supply."

The company also utilises low consumption, energy-efficient light bulbs at all its locations, and battery-operated forklifts over those run on petrol to cut emissions. The business is also installing variable frequency drives that significantly reduce power consumption and lower carbon output from its buildings.

"PriceSmart is also retro-fitting our buildings with Frigitek, which is an energy-reducing device for our refrigeration equipment, as well as with dual-pane skylights to reduce carbon footprints."

A carbon footprint is the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organisation, event or product.

PriceSmart did not say what, if any, cost savings were being realised from these additional initiatives.

avia.ustanny@gleanerjm.com