Cuyahoga County Giant Eagle stores will stop charging for paper shopping bags

CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO) - Giant Eagle confirmed it has eliminated the 5 cent charge for paper bags at all 24 Giant Eagle and Market District locations in Cuyahoga County effective Sept. 7.

This change comes simultaneously with the retailer’s new incentive to encourage customers to use reusable bags while shopping in their stores.

Giant Eagle is offering loyalty reward perks for shoppers who use at least one reusable bag while checking out.

Those shoppers with a reusable bag will receive two perks per transaction now through Dec. 31, according to Giant Eagle.

Customers must be enrolled in either the myPerks or fuelperks+ loyalty program to earn these reward perks, the retailer stated.

“We believe that rewarding our customers who choose to shop with reusable bags is the best way to support cleaner communities,” Giant Eagle Director of Sustainability Cara Mercil said. “Our Cuyahoga County customers have stepped up in a big way, meaningfully contributing to the 1.8 million pounds of plastic Giant Eagle has prevented from littering rivers and green spaces across its regions over the past 12 months.”

“While paper bags are biodegradable and recyclable, they still have high environmental costs related to water and energy use,” Giant Eagle stated. “Nevertheless, Giant Eagle realizes that they are an important convenience for some customers and that eliminating the five-cent charge for paper bags provides an added value at a time when many families are looking for ways to save.

Giant Eagle started eliminating single-use plastic bags from select stores in 2019.

Since then, they have removed them all GetGo locations and supermarkets in numerous cities.

The grocery store chain got rid of plastic bags in January of 2020 in Cuyahoga County, but brought them back because of the pandemic.

Giant Eagle spokesperson Dan Donovan said the initial ban was successful and hopes things go even better this time around when they were banned again in early 2022.

“In two short months we prevented approximately 20 million single-use grocery bags from entering our landfills and littering our communities,” said Donovan in April of 2022.