PRA-Cebu plans to build a bulk-buying facility

CEBU, Philippines - After it successfully launched an intensive awareness campaign on using environment-friendly shopping bags, the Philippine Retailers Association (PRA-Cebu) will pioneer a bulk-buying facility for industry players to save on cost as well as to help the environment.

Chester Lim of Belmont Hardware, chairman of PRA-Cebu “Every Bag Counts” program, announced that the group will start installing a bulk-buying effort next year among retail players in order to save on cost in promoting “green bag” campaign.

Apparently, this time providing biodegradable shopping bags is more costly, than giving customers the traditional plastic bags.

According to Lim, PRA-Cebu will negotiate with a supplier of biodegradable shopping bags, or environment friendly bags so the Cebu retail industry will pioneer a unified effort in arresting the issue on climate change.

Last week, PRA-Cebu formally launched the “Every Bag Counts” campaign that promotes awareness not only to retail players but to the mainstream consumers in using only environment-friendly bags.

According to PRA-Cebu president Melanie Ng, this is a pioneering effort in the entire retail sector in the Philippines. Again, Cebu is leading the way in taking care of the environment in the retail sector.

“This is going to be a “revolutionary” change by both retail companies, and the consumers,” Ng said.

Ng said PRA-Cebu will be pushing hard to advocate green retailing system among members, changing to biodegradable shopping bags, just like what other retail operators are doing.

“This might involve an additional cost of money, but there has to be a solution in eliminating additional investment for this move,” she said.

Bulk-buying for environment-friendly shopping bags, as an organization is one of the options, Ng said as she already has a list of suppliers making biodegradable bags, although price of this material is still a big issue.

Requiring consumers to bring their own shopping bags, just like other countries are doing, is also seen as another “revolutionary” change for the shopping culture in the Philippines. “We don’t know how consumers will respond to this.”

There are over a hundred PRA-Cebu members. Ng said few of them including her company Premium Concepts, and NGenius are also implementing “green retailing” initiatives, but adopting this advocacy will ultimately depend on the retail company owner.

Already, big retail chains, like SM malls have started giving out brown bags, or biodegradable bags, especially in the supermarket.

Plastic bags and packaging have been blamed by local government cleaners, even in Cebu, for clogging waterways that contribute to floods - a perennial problem in most coastal cities. In fact, Cebu City alone produces more than 400 tons of garbage a day, mostly plastic.— Ehda M. Dagooc