9A- Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

My belief that there is an opportunity available is the belief that stores should not give out plastic bags with purchases, and instead should focus solely on selling reusable bags or giving them out during checkout.

Interview 1:
Background: This is my guy friend who used to work at Publix
Luckily, I was able to sit down with one of my peers who is in the same business mentor club as me. Seeing that he used to work at Publix for about 3 years, I figured he would be a great person to interview since he dealt with this pretty much on the daily. He says that although he definitely sees this opportunity to be able to sell reusable bags rather than plastic bags, he realizes that there are many people who don't ever think twice about plastic bags. To be completely honest, he even says how there are people who don't even acknowledge the fact that global warming is even happening, thus they have no motivation to eliminate the use of plastic bags in the first place. Similarly, this is where he realizes that he personally begins to draw the line. Although working at Publix has made him very aware of how much plastic is used daily, he also realizes that it is essentially a way of life for shoppers. Using plastic bags is so ingrained into American culture that he knows it will be a very difficult to exploit this opportunity. Thus, he sees that while exclusive use of reusable bags would be ideal, it is not a dire necessity. There are other things that people are more worried about, and using reusable bags over plastic ones is not a top priority. For my friend, his underlying need differs because it is not as urgent. Since he once worked at Publix, he sees the scale of this need and realizes that it is somewhat impractical, making it much less desirable.

Interview 2:
Background: This is my friend who currently works at Target.
In order to understand the reach of this need and how many people it actually applies to, I thought it would be useful to interview one of my closest friends who currently checks people out at Target. I was a bit surprised to see how similar her perspective on my opportunity was compared to my first interview. My friend was pretty blunt with her personal opinion. Checking people out, she sees how people don't even think twice about being given plastic bags, and oftentimes more than one bag. She observed about 2 people average on the daily who actually go out of their way to bring their own reusable bags, and sometimes she told me it was even less than that. With that being said, she explained how she personally sees it as a big deal. She has always loved the environment and even uses metal straws on the daily in order to cut down on plastic. Regardless, she says how regarding this plastic bag issue, she has sort of lost hope with the matter. She acknowledges that she thinks reusable bags would be a great idea, but it is just too difficult to implement. She says how using reusable bags is not a priority in anyone's life right now, as there are much more important issues to deal with. In other words, her need is different because she knows it is very necessary, but she also knows it is unrealistic.

Interview 3:
Background: I interviewed my Grandma who is not an avid shopper
I thought that having lived a lot of life, my grandma is a great person to ask because I am sure she has seen a lot of climate change and evolution of plastic waste usage throughout her life. She says that when she used to grocery shop very often years back, she always brought her own reusable bag out of personal preference. Even then, they used to give plastic bags out without thinking twice. Now, my grandma is very surprised that grocery stores and other stores have not yet made the switch from plastic bags to strictly reusable ones. She believes that the use of plastic bags is creating hundreds of thousands of tons of harmful plastic waste which is destroying our planet, and she doesn't see why they are still given out as easily as they are and without extra cost. Then again, she truly sees the importance of making the switch, but also admits that she no longer puts much thought into this. In other words, this is how her boundaries differ from ours. We are young and have a lot of life left. My grandma is old and she has already liven the majority of her life, so whatever effect this plastic has on the planet will not really affect her as much as it will us. Unfortunately, it is the reality of it. She also sees how there are other priorities such as natural disasters and world wars that should be tended to before this matter can be taken care of.

Interview 4:
Background: My cousin who lives in Venezuela
Given the unique nature of Venezuela and how it is a completely different environment, country, and way of life, I figured it would be interesting to see where my 26-year-old cousin stands regarding this issue. Growing up in Venezuela, she explains how she has always been cognizant of the changing environmental conditions around her. More importantly, though, her take was interesting on the matter of the reusable bags. She told me that because Caracas is a city, she tends to walk to buy her groceries, thus she brings her own reusable bag whenever she goes to the market. Just like in America, they always give plastic bags when checking people out, so it really is no big deal. Interestingly enough, she does not use the reusable bag because she hopes to help eliminate plastic waste, but she uses it because she does not like walking far distances with an uncomfortable plastic bag in her hand. So, I asked her what her take was on the reusable bags regarding the environment. What she said was very unique. She explained to me how Venezuela is a very, very dirty city with trash everywhere. Thus, she does not think that eliminating plastic bags will be much help because there is already so much pollution and other things to deal with. She definitely does not see reusable bags being a priority in Caracas, taking into account that her city is the most dangerous one in the world and people are not really thinking too much about what bags they will use when they go shop. In this case, her need differs due to the unique environmental conditions that she is living under.

Interview 5:
Background: I asked my friend's younger brother who is a senior in high school
Since my friend's younger brother still lives at home with his mom and dad, I figured it would be interesting to see what he came up with given that he may not deal first hand with plastic bags at grocery stores too much, but he is definitely up to date with the fluctuating environmental conditions of the planet. I called him and asked him his thoughts regarding the need for reusable bags at grocery stores. He explained to me that he rarely does groceries, and his mom is usually the one who takes care of it for the family. Interestingly enough, he also told me how in his AP Biology class in high school, his teacher just so happened to be extremely adamant on the harmful effects of climate change on their futures. With that being said, he thought the exclusive use of reusable bags at stores was genius. He believes that it is an easy way to eliminate tons of thousands of pounds of plastic waste that are hurting our planet every day. I believe that the reason he sees it as such a great opportunity is because he truly does not know how impractical of a solution it is. Reusable bags over plastic bags is a great idea, but it is a bit far fetched. I also believe that since he does not tend to go grocery shopping often, he has no clue the scale of the opportunity.


Summary: Overall, being able to talk to such different people with such varying points of view really helped me understand the scale of this opportunity. To my surprise, this is an opportunity much more far fetched than what I originally thought. While some people definitely thought reusable bags would be a great, environmentally friendly alternative, others believed that there were much bigger, more important issues that ought to be tended to. In other words, many people do not see reusable bags as a priority, although it is a great idea and would only help everyone in the long run. Also, I realized that all of the people who I interviewed had varying opinions that were very heavily influenced by their physical surrounding environment. Those who lived in cities felt it was the obvious option to use reusable bags, while those who did not live in cities did not have this opinion. Additionally, I quickly learned that the ones who either worked or currently work in an environment that uses plastic bags saw my opportunity as impractical and very difficult to exploit.

Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
Young people who shop often, adults who do groceries often, people very concerned with climate change	People who are not concerned with climate change, people who do not shop often, older adults
The need is the elimination of plastic bags and the exclusive use of reusable bags. This includes either giving them to people for free with their purchase or allowing people the option to purchase their own	The need is not an urgent need because it is not something that affects people on a daily basis. To those outside of the boundary, having reusable bags would be awesome, but it most definitely not something that these people will go out of their way to make sure it is implemented.
The need exists because reusable bags are extremely environmentally friendly, more durable, more comfortable, and many of them are insulated so items remain cold and/or hot. The need also exists because every day, plastic bags contribute to waste and with reusable bags, this would help eliminate that waste, thus helping the planet.	Alternatively, this need is not a priority because there are a ton of other things that should receive attention that do not involve replacing plastic bags with reusable ones. This need is, in fact, a way to make great use of reusable bags and profit off of them to some extent by selling them at stores during check out. It is also an opportunity to help reduce plastic waste. Maybe this opportunity is more far fetched than I originally expected.