San Antonio’s hometown hero H-E-B is celebrating Earth Month with some new environmentally-conscious initiatives for all of its stores.

The new measures were planned with the ultimate goal of boosting the company’s ongoing commitment to reducing its overall waste while maximizing eco-friendly choices in the communities they serve. H-E-B Partners will also spread awareness of their practices through community events and donations to sustainability-focused organizations across the state of Texas.

A few of the new initiatives include improving awareness of the company's pre-existing plastic bag recycling program with more prominent bins at every store, and rolling out a new curbside plastic bag collection system.

Many municipalities don’t accept plastic bags at their recycling centers, so H-E-B is stepping up to provide their own alternative to landfills. With the new curbside program, shoppers can bundle their eligible plastic bags and items for an H-E-B employee to collect during the customer’s designated curbside pickup time. If a customer would like to bring their plastic items while shopping in-store, they can drop them off in the newly designed, highly visible bins at the main entrances.

Plastic items that will be accepted by the new Curbside program and in-store drop off bins are:

• Retail shopping bags
• Produce bags
• Bread bags
• Dry cleaning bags
• Newspaper bags
• Plastic over wrap, such as the plastic packaging that comes around toilet paper

H-E-B will also switch all their plastic cutlery to biodegradable versions at all stores, restaurants, and business locations. The new cutlery and straws are made from agave and other plant-based materials.

Additionally, H-E-B will host their annual reusable bag giveaway on April 22 to honor Earth Day. 250,000 reusable bags will be given to shoppers, free of charge.

Other actions the company will take include their annual “School Plastic Bag Recycling Challenge” at 600 Texas schools, their 2023 H-E-B Community Recycling Grants for funding improvements for infrastructure and educational recycling resources, hosting local community markets at select stores in Austin, and participating in other community-based events.

In 2022 alone, H-E-B recycled 19 million pounds of plastics thanks to its “Our Texas, Our Future” commitment.

More information about H-E-B’s sustainability initiatives can be found on their website.