When you bring a reusable shopping bag to the co-op you’re doing something really cool not only for our entire planet but for our community as well. The co-op takes the money (a nickel) that we would have spent on a bag and gives it to a local non-profit. A token representing the nickel is a bean. A cashier will give you a bean for each reusable bag you use and you get to drop it in a jar of your choice representing one of three local charities.
We have paper bags, but Beans for Bags offers a fun incentive for reusable bags that fund some important programs.
Current Recipients: October-December 2018
- Lunch Buddy Mentoring Program Mentors have lunch with elementary and middle school students once a week. Children’s confidence and self-esteem improves, as well as attendance and academic scores.
- Little Ballet Theater Fosters dance awareness and provides scholarships for local dancers. The non-profit’s big fundraising event, the Nutcracker, is a must-see performance in December.
- CCA Regional Food Bank Fights hunger in Clatsop County by distributing about 1.5 million pounds of food per year.
Beans for Bags has incentivized the use of more than 130,000 reusable bags and supported 34 different community organizations with nearly $7000 in donations since May 2015.
Click here for an application to become a Beans for Bags recipient.