Iowa Grocery Industry Association

DES MOINES, Iowa – Twenty-six Iowa communities are getting a makeover courtesy of Build with Bags.

The plastic bag recycling program being led by Iowa grocers announces today, on Earth Day, the 26 recipients of a Build with Bags grant award in 2010. The winners range from cities as big as West Des Moines to towns as small as Swaledale, with each receiving a maximum grant of $2,000.

“We are honored to announce the very first winners of the Build with Bags Grant Program,” said Jerry Fleagle, president of the Iowa Grocery Industry Association. “The communities being awarded will be trend setters for future Build with Bags grant recipients and examples of some of the tangible advantages associated with recycling plastic bags.”

A total of 71 applications were submitted for consideration of a grant. The 26 winners were selected by a committee of five representatives in support of the Build with Bags program. Each committee member individually scored applications prior to meeting as a group to combine the scores for an overall point total. The applicants with the most points created the recipient list that was awarded a grand total of $49,974.05.

Applications were evaluated based on set criteria that included a statement of need for the grant and the community’s own plastic bag recycling efforts. Grant applicants were also asked to verify the recycled plastic content in the furniture they were looking to purchase and obtain an endorsement letter from a local grocer that is supportive of the community’s project and recycling plans.

Geographic location also played a factor as the committee wanted to disperse the grant awards all across the state of Iowa.

“While the endorsement letter was not the most weighted category in the selection process, it is possibly one of the most vital to the Build with Bags program,” Fleagle said. “In the program committee’s eyes, it reflects how serious the applying community is about working with its local grocers to establish long-term projects and goals that can only help increase the awareness of plastic bag recycling.”

Encouraging purchases of furniture and equipment made from recycled plastic for parks and schools through its grant program is one of four goals established by Build with Bags. The other three include doubling the amount of plastic bags recycled between January 2010 and December 2011, reducing consumption of plastic bags and increasing use of reusable bags.

Participating retailers, including all Dahl’s Foods, Fareway Stores and Hy-Vee locations statewide, are helping to highlight the announcement of the grant winners and celebrate Earth Day with a two-week, Build with Bags promotional effort through May 2. Most stores are using program-branded plastic bags to accentuate the program, in addition to displaying Build with Bags posters in the entry ways of stores near plastic bag recycling barrels bearing the initiative’s logo and slogan.

Build with Bags, a cooperative of the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, Keep Iowa Beautiful, Metro Waste Authority in Des Moines, Iowa Department of Natural Resources and The Des Moines Register, was originally announced last August at the 2009 Iowa State Fair. It was rolled out in participating stores with a two-week promotion in January.

For more information on Build with Bags or its grant program opportunities, please visit www.itseasytorecycle.org or www.iowagrocers.com.

2010 Build with Bags Grant Winners (PDF – 67 KB)

About Build with Bags

The Build with Bags Program is a cooperative effort of the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, Keep Iowa Beautiful, Metro Waste Authority in Des Moines, Iowa Department of Natural Resources and The Des Moines Register. Over the course of several months, representatives of each of these organizations witnessed focus groups convened to discuss plastic bag issues and then met to develop a program aimed at demonstrating how Iowa grocers could help to reduce the environmental impact of plastic bags. In addition to reducing the environmental footprint of plastic bags, the goal of the group was also to provide an effective alternative to plastic bag bans and the unintended consequences that often result from bans and other related regulatory efforts.

About the Iowa Grocery Industry Association

The Iowa Grocery Industry Association is a state trade association that represents the food industry, including chain and independent supermarkets, convenience stores, mass merchandisers, wholesalers, brokers, manufacturers and distributors. Founded in 1899, the IGIA has long served as a resource to its members, the food industry and the general public through education, legislative, partnership and philanthropic programs. Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, the IGIA can be found online at www.iowagrocers.com,