(DEQ) — The Division of Environmental Quality and Joeten Enterprises team up to offer shopping incentives to encourage shoppers to use reusable bags.
The reusable DEQ bag promotion is one way shoppers can protect the environment and promote sustainable living by reducing the amount of plastic bags while grocery shopping.  For each time a shopper uses a canvas or reusable bag for their purchases, the shopper will receive an entry form for a chance to win the weekly gift certificate prize, valued at $25.
Bags will be distributed at no cost to the first 100 shoppers on Saturday, May 12. at the 58th anniversary of JCT Enterprises Inc., and feature celebrity bagging at the Joeten Shopping Center in Susupe and the Joeten Hafadai Shopping Center in Garapan. 
Plastic bags can last for hundreds of years and many shoppers use 3 or more for their groceries.   It’s a major environmental problem when plastic bags end up in our marine waters that eventually lead to the suffocation of marine mammals and sea birds.  On land, plastic bag litter can block drains and trap birds. They also kill livestock. Plastic bags are also commonly found in nearly all beaches on Saipan, Tinian and Rota.  The bags end up in landfills and emit harmful greenhouse gases.
This promotion is the beginning of DEQ’s Green Business Initiative.  Businesses interested in participating in a ‘green business’ activity with DEQ are encouraged to call 664-8500.
Join the movement to protect our islands’ natural resources. Reducing one’s contribution to plastic-bag pollution is as simple as using a cloth bag instead of wasting plastic ones.