More than 100,000 Customers Petition Target to Eliminate Plastic Bags in Stores

More than 100,000 Target customers have petitioned Target Corporation to eliminate plastic bags in Target stores. Thousands more join every day. The petition, started by Customers Who Care, asks Target to take responsibility for the more than a billion plastic bags it hands out at checkout per year. 

Many Target customers joining the petition express grave concern for the impact of Target’s plastic bags on the environment. One customer wrote to Target: “We are drowning our beautiful planet in plastic. There’s no excuse or need for it. Please change your behaviors.” Another wrote: “Stop using plastic bags. Costco doesn’t use any. You can do the same. We have a plastic crisis on this planet. We need you to stop this now!”

Melissa Aguayo of the 5 Gyres Institute (a research organization in special consultative status with the UN that focuses on reducing plastics pollution) explains: “People are understanding the horrible impact of throwaway plastic on the earth. Plastic bags never go away. They ultimately break down into smaller and smaller pieces becoming microplastics that choke the planet and end up everywhere. The average plastic bag is used 12 minutes and then discarded and less than 1% are recycled. By 2050, it is estimated that there will be more plastic in the ocean by weight than fish. We have had our wake up call and must start making changes now.”

“In order to be a sustainability leader, Target needs to stop putting the onus of that leadership fully on its customers,” says Customers Who Care’s founder, Theresa Carter. “Saying that customers can opt to refuse a bag, is not leadership, where clearly that approach is not having an impact. And certainly, the billion plastic bags that continue to flow out of Target’s stores each year are not sustainable.”

People can join Customers Who Care’s petition to Target entitled: “Ban Plastic Bags: Target, Stop Filling the World with Plastic Bags!” at customerswhocare.org.

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About Customers Who Care

Customers Who Care is an independent organization of people working to inspire retailers to stop contributing to plastic pollution and to pursue a green and sustainable future. Customers Who Care accepts no funds and is driven by the volunteer actions of actual customers - who care. Learn more at customerswhocare.org or at facebook.com/customerswhocare.

Contact Information

Theresa Carter

Media

Customers Who Care

(1) 651-300-4302

media@customerswhocare.org