New Clipping

“Seattle's Metropolitan Market has been offering customers a 5-cent rebate per bag for the last two years. Customers have the choice to donate that nickel to charity or keep it. Tuesday, the market gave the Puget Sound Keeper Alliance a 5,000 dollar check. The Puget Sound Keeper Alliance is a non-profit group that monitors and tries to protect Puget Sound.”

Metropolitan Market donated $5,217 to Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, a nonprofit that supports reuse of shopping bags. That's the sum of 5-cent contributions during 2008 from shoppers at the chain's six stores who chose to donate their nickel rebates rather than keep them. — MA

Yesterday afternoon Metropolitan Market Vice President of Marketing Brad Halverson presented the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, an organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of Puget Sound, with a $5,217 check. Alliance Executive Director Bob Beckman received the check outside the Upper Queen Anne Metropolitan Market, the sum of five-cent donations made in 2008 by market customers who used their .05 bag re-use rebate to benefit the organization.

Pictured from left to right, Bob Beckman, Executive Director of Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, and Brad Halverson, Vice President of Marketing at Metropolitan Market. (Thanks to Sara at Wilson Public Relations and I CANDI Studios for the photo!)

“The partnership between Puget Soundkeeper Alliance and Metropolitan Market is a great example of community and environmental stewardship,” Beckman said in a public statement. We applaud Metropolitan Market’s efforst to encourage their customers to re-use their bags and give back to Puget Sound.”

Metropolitan Market and the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance have been bag rebate partner organizations since 2007, when the store launched its bag re-use program. Customers who made the .05 contributions had the option of keeping the five-cent rebate for themselves, but instead made over 104,000 nickel donations that added up to the huge sum.

“A big thank you to Metropolitan Market for providing the food and beverages for the survivor reception…” Metropolitan Market donates food and beverages for “Relay for Life."