This month Wegmans Food Market will be sponsoring a program that will boost the sustainability efforts of its customers. When a customer brings plastic bags to a Wegmans for recycling it will increase the contribution the company will make to The Nature Conservancy, a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect lands and water.

Last year in April, Wegmans customers recycled 177,000 pounds of plastic bags — the equivalent of about 11 million new bags. The company wanted to improve on this and came up with a plan to contribute at least $10,000 to The Nature Conservancy. To inspire customers to scour closets, pantries and other storage areas for plastic bags to recycle, Wegmans pledged to contribute 50 cents to the Conservancy for every additional pound above last year’s total of 177,000 (with a minimum contribution of $10,000).

“Sustainability is a company-wide priority at Wegmans, and the duty to protect air, land and water for people today and tomorrow belongs to all of us," Jason Wadsworth, sustainability coordinator, said in a press release. "We’re very proud of the steps we and our customers have already taken to reduce, reuse and recycle, but to keep moving in the right direction, we need to keep coming up with more and better ways to conserve these precious resources. It made sense to us to inspire customers to do their best too by working together on this recycling initiative.”

During April, signs near the recycling bins in the stores’ vestibules will remind customers to bring in their plastic bags for recycling, and Wegmans will track the total weight as the month goes by. In addition, on Saturday April 26 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., the first 300 customers at every store who bring in a bunch of clean dry plastic bags will receive a coupon for a Wegmans reusable bag.

“The reusable bags come in lots of designs and colors, and they’re actually the best option from an environmental standpoint,” Wadsworth said in the release.

Since some customers prefer plastic bags, however, Wegmans has also looked for ways to increase the amount of plastic that is recycled. In January, Wegmans introduced new plastic bags with the slogan “Return to Sender.” The bags are made with 40 percent recycled plastic.

“It helps people to know we put their plastic shopping bags to good use after they bring them back to the store," he said. "Our supplier uses those recycled bags as raw material for brand new bags. Last year, together with our customers, Wegmans recycled a total of 3.6 million pounds of plastic bags and wrapping.”

Today, every Wegmans store now uses on average 4,000 fewer plastic carry-out bags per day compared with 2007, the year Wegmans introduced reusable bags and began reformulating its carry-out plastic bags. That’s 120 million fewer bags each year.