Six local businesses are showing their support for the “Building for the Future” library fundraising campaign here by offering to donate 10 cents per bag to the cause when their customers bring in and use their own cloth or canvas shopping bags instead of plastic ones.
The eco-friendly “Go Green” fundraiser has caught on with Crazy Ladies Fabrics, The Place, Betty’s, McTaggarts, Einar’s Foods, and Pharmasave.
The idea originated at Pharmasave with pharmacist Renate Winkler and one of its store managers, Monica Sus.
Winkler and Sus already had been pushing the use of “green bags” in-store and then read a news story about Leaf Rapids, Man. and its town-wide ban on plastic bags.
That, in turn, spurred them on to even more eco-friendly awareness with customers and the added incentive of helping with the library fundraiser.
“It was a whole town that went plastic bag-free and then ordered a huge amount of cloth bags from a company,” Winkler noted Monday.
“The company thought it was such a great idea, they gave them a bunch of cloth bags for free.
“We loved the idea [and] we both love the library, so we decided to give the proceeds of our ‘Go Green’ [bring your own bag] campaign to the library,” Winkler added.
The “Building for the Future” special events committee then took the idea to other businesses.
“It seems to be a very easy way to make a contribution to the library, and to raise awareness about the project itself and to help our environment by cutting down on landfill,” said Mark Kowalchuk, who is chairing the “Building for the Future” fundraising drive.
Any other businesses interested in participating can contact library fundraising volunteer Irene Laing (274-9560) or the Fort Frances Public Library, and signs will be provided.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
