MOSES LAKE – Vision 2020 listened to a presentation from Washington Food Industry President Jan Gee about encouraging grocers and retailers to promote reusable bags over plastic bags.

“Plastic bags have been an issue for some time,” she told the group.

Vision 2020 requested her presence as they have seen plastic bags littered throughout the city and were hoping for a solution to eliminate the garbage.

Gee said it’s important to educate the public about why they should avoid using plastic bags when they go shopping. She said less than 3 percent of the bags are recyclable.

She said it’s also important to get local store owners involved and to educate them about offering reusable bags.

Safeway, Food Pavilion and Lep-re-kon are working with her program by offering reusable bags, but plastic bags are still offered.

On Tuesday she said she planned to meet with Grocery Outlet management to propose her program.

“We have not been able to get Walmart,” she said.

Walmart already offers reusable bags for sale.

Gee said she often sees stores offer the reusable cloth bags for sale ranging in price from 99 cents to $1.75, depending on what size is selected.

She added the toughest challenge stores deal with is shoplifting. She said sometimes customers will enter a store with their reusable bags and place the items directly in the bag and leave the store.

“We have already experienced the increase in shoplifting,” she said.

Gee said it will be important for store employees to be trained to remind customers not to place items directly into their bags and to remind them the bags are available for purchase.

She also encourages Vision 2020 to work with environmental groups to promote the campaign and to launch the campaign at a large, well attended event such as a festival or a fair where the bags can be given away for little or no cost.

“You need to create an attitude … that we are going to choose reusable when we can,” Gee said.

She said there is also funding available through the state Department of Ecology to support the campaign. The campaign can be expensive if signs, buttons and stickers are used and free bags are given away, she said.

Vision 2020 Chair Bill Ecret said a meeting will be organized between community leaders, grocers and retailers to further discuss the proposal.