CHICAGO (WGN) — Whole Foods, an American supermarket chain with locations in 45 states, Canada and the United Kingdom, has discontinued its program offering customers a 10-cent grocery bag credit for those who brought in reusable bags.
The 10-cent bag credit program, often referred to as the BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) refund, was implemented in 2008 as a means to encourage customers to adopt using reusable bags.
According to a company spokesperson, with reusable bags now standard practice around the United States, Whole Foods has sunset the program, though the company said it continues to encourage customers to maintain the environmentally friendly habit.
Maximizing grocery savings: Tips for buying the best value
As the years went by, Whole Foods’ BYOB refund program proved to be ahead of its time.
In 2017, under then-Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, the city of Chicago implemented a 7-cent tax on checkout bags aimed at reducing the circulation of one-use plastic bags.
According to a study conducted by the University of Chicago’s Urban Labs, Chicago’s bag tax reduced disposable bag use from 82% of consumers to just 54%, while doubling reusable bag use from 13% to 29% — a change that occurred within the first month of the tax in 2017. The study also found this trend persisted as time went on.
As a part of Chicago’s budget that passed for fiscal year 2025, the city voted to increase the checkout bag tax from 7 cents to 10 cents, with 9 cents from every bag going to the city, and 1 cent from every bag going to retailers.
