Aldo and Call it Spring to eliminate single use shopping bags

The Aldo Group, a Canadian-based footwear and accessories company, has announced that both Aldo and Call It Spring will phase out all single-use shopping bags from corporate stores globally, as part of the company's continued efforts toward sustainability. The new initiative encourages customers to opt for an eco-designed shoebox made from recycled material and with a built-in handle that makes single-use bags obsolete.

"Over a decade ago, we introduced a shoebox with a rope as a first step to making our packaging more sustainable and guide our customers to better shopping habits. We now believe that our consumers are ready to accept our boxes as the solution to carry their shoes home," said David Bensadoun, chief executive officer of the Aldo Group, in a statement. "The elimination of 10 million single-use bags is a major step in our long-term commitment to sustainability and is just one piece of the puzzle we are working on."

To celebrate its break up with single-use bags, Aldo will be revealing unique activations this August in New York and London. On August 9, in partnership with Plant the Future, and taking inspiration from nearby Central Park, Aldo will transform its Broadway location in New York into an environmental activation that showcases the impact that the Aldo brand has by ditching single-use bags: approximately 8,500 trees saved per year, roughly 1/3 of the 26,000 trees currently found in the park. The store will also be completely paperless during the activation, from receipts to marketing signage, and the exciting initiative will be mirrored in London on August 29, using Hyde Park as inspiration.

As the first fashion footwear and accessories company in the world to be certified climate neutral, this bag-free initiative is a natural next step for the company in reducing its environmental footprint. Recently, Call It Spring took a bold step by becoming fully vegan, removing all animal materials from its entire product range. In keeping with its commitment to a greener future, Call It Spring is also working on including more sustainable materials in its product offering, with sustainable collections and further advancements to come later this year.

"Our company purpose is a journey to create a world of love, confidence and belonging. This purpose pushes us to help create a more sustainable future through our business operations," Bensadoun added in a statement. "We continue to challenge ourselves and those in the industry to explore even more ways to advance sustainability, and we look forward to sharing other impactful initiatives in the near future."

Customers at Aldo and Call It Spring who still wish to opt for a bag will have the option to purchase reusable eco-totes. Available in four sizes (S, M, L, XL), the eco-totes are made from recycled plastic, removing on average 5 water bottles per tote from the ecosystem. Net profits from Aldo's eco-tote sales will go toward funding ocean protection projects at The Ocean Legacy Foundation and to Ocean Conservancy, while proceeds from Call It Spring's eco-tote sales will go toward clean water and sanitation projects in Kenya through an ongoing partnership with ME to WE.