Protect the Environment while Shopping!

As part of DEQ’s Green Business Initiative, the Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Carmen Safeway Enterprises team up to offer shopping incentives to encourage shoppers to use reusable bags.

This Saturday, December 15, starting at 10 am, reusable bags will be distributed to the first 100 shoppers who purchase $10 or more in groceries.

The reusable DEQ bag promotion is one way shoppers can protect the environment and promote sustainable living by reducing the amount of plastic bags while grocery shopping.

For each time a shopper uses a canvas or reusable bag for their purchases, the shopper will receive an entry form for a chance to win the weekly gift certificate prize, valued at $25.

Plastic bags can last for hundreds of years and many shoppers use 3 or more for their groceries. It’s a major environmental problem when plastic bags end up in our marine waters that eventually lead to the suffocation of marine life and sea birds. On land, plastic bag litter can block drains and trap birds. They also kill livestock. Plastic bags are also commonly found in all beaches on Saipan, Tinian and Rota. The bags end up in landfills and emit harmful greenhouse gases.

Join the movement to protect our islands’ natural resources. Reducing one’s contribution to plastic-bag pollution is as simple as using a cloth bag (canvas).

For your next trip to the grocery store, BYOB!