Stop & Shop: No More Reusable Bag Rebate

Grocery shoppers in Peekskill with their reusable bags in tow may be surprised to find that Stop & Shop is no longer giving back 5 cents per bag.

Stop & Shop New York Metro spokeswoman Arlene Putterman said Monday it was a regional policy decision to stop the rebate as a test.

"We had been doing it for years," she said of the 5-cent incentive, "but there's really not much changing on the meter.

"We feel the program has reached a plateau," Putterman said.

She said the company will be making a donation of $10,000 to the environmental group Connecticut Forest and Park Association and will still be encouraging people to reuse plastic bags.

A posting about the change on Peekskill-Cortlandt's Patch's Facebook page brought out the comments:

"Dislike," Rebecca Bass said.

"I recycle anyway," Suzanne Kraus Mancuso wrote. "So let them keep the nickel."

"Those of us who use the re-usable bags don't do it for the 5 cents, we do it because it's the right thing to do," Leigh Fludd-Smith said. "Perhaps they should consider a 5-cent surcharge for each paper/plastic bag a customer takes...That might increase the number of people who bring their own, and thus decrease the environmental impact of that paper & plastic."

What's your take on Stop & Shop's decision? Leave it here.