Bonnie Spence packs her purchases into a reusable bag at the IKEA store in Emeryville.

BY SHALEECE HAAS // You can still buy everything from sofas to Swedish meatballs at IKEA, but from now on, you will no longer be able to carry your purchases home in a disposable plastic bag.

The Sweden-based mega-retailer, known for their environmentally friendly policies, has removed disposable plastic bags from all of their US stores. Prior to the change, IKEA customers nationwide used a total of 70,000 bags each year.

Now shoppers will have three choices – bring their own bag, use no bag at all, or buy one of IKEA’s reusable plastic bags for 59 cents.

According to Roseanne Disandro, cash manager at IKEA’s Emeryville store, customers are responding positively to the change. “The environment is a major issue for our customers and they always talk about it,” Disandro said.

IKEA has eliminated plastic bags at checkout stands, but shoppers can still buy reusable bags for 59 cents.

“It’s the best thing they could have done,” said Isabella Diniz, a San Francisco resident, who was shopping for Christmas decorations on the first day after the plastic bags were removed from IKEA’s check out stands.

Though she supported the change, Diniz said she rarely remembers to bring her own bag.

“I have 10 of these at home,” Diniz said, gesturing to the large blue bag. “I buy them and forget to bring them back.” But, Diniz said, they don’t go to waste. She uses them for grocery shopping and prefers them to other alternatives because they’re bigger and hold more than standard grocery bags.

Bonnie Spence, a Canadian resident who was in the Bay Area visiting her daughter, viewed the move to selling only reusable bags with suspicion. “They’re taking advantage of you to not only buy their bag, but also to carry their name around,” she said.

Although the blue IKEA bags are also made of plastic, they are composed of recyclable polypropylene and are sturdy enough to be reused many times. In addition, IKEA expects customers to use fewer of them, because their capacity is equivalent to five disposable plastic bags. According to a company press release, sales of the reusable bags have increased more than 10,000 percent since IKEA started charging five cents for plastic bags early last year.

Robbie Cheah, outside the IKEA store in Emeryville

In March of 2007, one month before San Francisco banned the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags by major retailers, IKEA began charging for plastic bags to discourage their use. Most customers responded by bringing their own sack or going without. Plastic bag use dropped by 92 percent.

But there’s little evidence of what happens to the reusable bags once shoppers get them home.

Robbie Cheah, 25, bought a big blue bag to carry some hangers and a bath mat back to his San Francisco apartment. When asked about the bag’s fate, Cheah said, “I might not re-use it again. I’m probably going to throw it out.”