Not long ago, we wrote on the subject of saving the earth through plastic shopping bag reduction. We found out through Treehugger that on March 15th, IKEA will charge a nickel per plastic bag in the US to encourage people to cut down on plastic bag waste.

Proceeds of up to $1.75 million will go to American Forests, a nonprofit organization. To help, Ikea will be selling a reusable Big Blue Bay for 59 cents. “This program lets our customers know we have our stake in the ground and are committed to continuing to be an environmentally responsible company,” says Pernille Spiers-Lopez, president of IKEA North America.

IKEA estimates it will save at least 35 million bags in the first year, a reduction of 50%. In the UK, a similar program by Ikea reduced bags by 95 percent.