Lindo's is binning brown paper bags and giving out reuseable replacements to shoppers to help the environment.

The supermarket — which has branches in Warwick and Devonshire — announced the move yesterday and said customers spending $100 before May 31 would receive two free polypropylene bags from environmental charity Greenrock.

Greenrock has handed out more than 2,000 re-usable bags since 2007. From June 1, the Greenock bags from Lindo's will cost $1.75 each. Lindo's president Giorgio Zanol said the company had thought about ditching paper bags years ago but the timing wasn't right.

"Now people are eager to make changes that save energy and protect the environment so we decided it was the right time to move ahead," he said.

Lindo's dishes out some 160,000 paper bags a month or 1.9 million bags a year. Greenrock president Andrew Vaucrosson said ditching the paper bags would save 2,880 trees and 4.8 million BTUs in energy — enough to power 280 average Bermuda homes for a month.

He said manufacturing the paper bags released more than 150 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and created $494,000 of energy costs.

Mr. Vaucrosson said other supermarket groups on the Island had already been in touch to discuss similar schemes.

"Greenrock salutes Lindo's and their management team for taking this bold and innovative way of converting green talk to action," he added. "Greenrock feels this announcement by Lindo's is a clear indicator that our goal of 'changing the mindset' is taking root in Bermuda."

Mr. Zanol admitted the decision was a risky move.

"We don't know for certain how all our customers will react," he said. "But we believe strongly that it is the right move.

"We hope our customers will join us in committing to reuseable bags. In time, and as more and more institute this kind of policy, bringing reuseable bags to the store will become second nature."