Free resusable bags for Palm Desert residents

The City of Palm Desert is offering residents a free reusable shopping bag as part of the City’s new Bring Your Own Bag program.

The reusable, washable bags are available to the first 10,000 Palm Desert residents, with proof of residency, who claim one at the Palm Desert Visitor Center, 73470 El Paseo, Suite F-7.

For their convenience, residents who live in large apartment complexes will receive their bags from the apartment complex’s property management staff. The bags are made of recycled material and feature the City’s logo along with a picture of Recycle Binney, the desert tortoise who serves as Palm Desert’s sustainability mascot.

In addition to the free bag giveaway, the City will be leading a Bring Your Own Bag (BYOB) campaign over the coming months to promote the use of reusable bags for shopping throughout Palm Desert. The BYOB public awareness campaign will feature a variety of giveaways including signs, stickers, and coloring books. In addition, staff will be making more than a dozen appearances at local events where different biodegradable reusable bags will also be given away.

Discarded single-use plastic bags pollute the environment and can harm wildlife while reusable bags conserve resources, reduce water pollution, and save money by reducing litter. Experts say that four or five reusable bags used once a week can replace 520 single-use plastic bags a year.

For more information about the City’s BYOB campaign, please call 760-346-0611, ext. 480.

For more information about how Palm Desert residents can claim their free reusable bag, please call the Palm Desert Visitor Center at 760-568-1441.