Ryoko Sato of Sendai Nagamachi in Japan dons the winning design in the My Bag Design Contest.
Creativity and sustainability often go hand in hand. A recent example of this is the “My Bag Design Contest” for associates at our Seiyu stores in Japan. Associates were invited to design a new eco-friendly reusable bag for stores in the region to sell. Associates throughout Japan submitted 103 different designs. Of those, 10 were chosen as finalists and one design was selected as the winner.
The winner, Ryoko Sato from a store in Sendai Nagamachi, designed a bag, available in pink and blue, that features the Walmart logo nestled amid the branches of a large tree in the middle of a simple city landscape. In February, these bags became available for purchase in stores across Japan.
The competition is part of a broader Seiyu initiative that includes the “My Steady Bag Together” program introduced last year. In July 2012, Seiyu stores began charging customers for using plastic bags as a month-long event to amplify the focus on sustainability. More than 13,000 associates participated in the event to help reduce plastic bag usage, which also helped stores in Japan reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 9 tons. Based on last year’s success, Seiyu is planning to repeat the effort this year, and thanks to Ryoko Sato, customers will have a fun reusable bag to consider instead of plastic.
The winning design is available in blue and pink
We recognize that plastic bag waste is a huge opportunity for us, and this contest is one of many initiatives that are happening globally. In fact, as of the end of our 2013 fiscal year, we reduced plastic bag waste by more than 38 percent compared to 2007 by working with customers and store associates to reduce and recycle plastic bags.
