Over 450,000 people sign petition urging Target to stop using plastic bags

More than 455,000 people have signed a petition calling on Target to discontinue the use of plastic bags, according to The Associated Press.

Petition organizer Theresa Carter will lead fellow shoppers in delivering the signatures to the retailer’s Minneapolis headquarters on Thursday, according to the AP.

“I’m a Target shopper. Hundreds of thousands of my petition’s signers are Target customers, and we have one clear message for Target: Please act to end plastic bag pollution,” Carter said in a statement.

“If other retailers like IKEA and Costco can do without plastic bags, I’m convinced Target can too,” she added.

In response, Target spokeswoman Danielle Schumann said the retailer has taken numerous steps to cut down on the use of plastic, including implementing recycling kiosks in stores in 2010, and said the stores’ plastic bags are made with 40 percent recycled materials, according to the AP.

“Target teams across the business are working to eliminate, reduce and find alternatives for plastics in our products, packaging and operations,” she added.

In addition to the other retailers mentioned by Carter, Oregon earlier this year approved a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags, which followed more than a dozen Oregon cities enacting similar bans of their own.