Target, CVS launch reusable bag incentive programs

Target and CVS are both rolling out programs designed to get shoppers to trim their reliance on plastic grocery bags. Anti-bag crusades are popular with eco-friendly companies; Whole Foods, for instance, scrapped disposable plastic bags back in 2008.

According to this article in USA Today, the nation's fifth-largest retailer along with the country's largest prescription provider are each launching plastic bag-reduction incentives in the coming weeks. Both brands have test-marketed the new campaigns and are introducing them in all of their stores (that's 1,700 Target locations and 7,000 CVS sites, if you're counting).

The Target plan offers customers five cents off their bill for every reusable bag they use in lieu of a plastic bag. A Target spokesperson says any reusable bag is acceptable, but you're not allowed to bring in plastic bags from your last trip to the store. (Even if you are reusing them, they're not reusable bags.) The spokesperson adds that although the program officially launches November 1, which is when signs announcing the incentive will appear in stores, customers "could and should be able to" bring in their own reusable bags and request the discount now. The five-cent discount is available to all shoppers.