Comment:  Thanks for having a no plastic bag month. I would vote for it to be permanent. – Maryann

Response:  Maryann, we are so glad you appreciated our Bag It campaign in April. Our managers agreed with you, and they decided to eliminate plastic grocery bags at the registers in perpetuity! Yay Co-op!! – Carol

Comment:  As a re-usable bag user, I was disappointed to read paper/plastic bag users called “lazy.” Using supportive and educational language would better serve the changing of habits and building of community. – anonymous

Response:  You are so right. You’d think we’d have learned this lesson by now but it seems like every so often we slip up. Thanks for the reminder about playing nice! – Carol

Comment:  In your “Bag It” campaign, please recommend how people should dispose of household waste? Surely not buying plastic trash bags. – anonymous

Response:  Nope! The Co-op currently stocks green “Bio bags” which are a great alternative to traditional plastic garbage bags. We featured them during April. They come in both the small wastecan and tall kitchen can sizes. Our buyers are also always searching for other biodegradable alternatives. Also, I end up with just enough paper bags that I frequently use those in my garbage bins, along with empty pet food bags, so that’s another option. We’ll be doing some checking with local governments about their trash regulations to determine if our Bag It campaign, which will continue next year, can help make these rules easier for citizens to avoid using plastic for waste disposal.

Comment:  It would be SOOOO awesome if there could be more pool parties this summer. I still think that’s the single best thing that has resulted from me becoming a member! – Jake

Response:  I am SOOOO glad you enjoyed the pool parties last summer Jake! They were a blast. I wasn’t able to include them in the outreach and membership budget this year – I’m sorry. At this point I’m beginning to wonder if the weather will ever make swimming a possibility. But I will certainly try to do it again on some level next summer, and if we’re lucky, maybe I’ll get to plan one for sometime this August. I’ll keep you posted. – Carol

Comment:  I learned about bicyclebenefits.org. I think it would be a good thing for the Co-op and would love to help set it up. – Mark

Response:  Thanks Mark. I have considered trying Bicycle Benefits at the Co-op but realized that since we already have our “Leave Your Car @ Home” card that gives you a cash incentive to not drive, it would be confusing for staff and customers to add another kind of program on top of that one. Let’s talk about it more the next time we see each other because I’m always willing to reconsider. Thanks! - Carol