Citizens aren’t the only ones helping reduce waste and energy — many businesses around Ames are also are joining in the fight.

Environmental canvas bags, or reusable grocery bags, have been a popular item among businesses.

Monte Streit, manager of Hy-Vee, 640 Lincoln way, said both Hy-Vee and the Hy-Vee at 3800 Lincoln Way recently gave out 1,000 free canvas bags. They have more for sale and encourage their customers to use them.

Mike Lee, store manager of Cub Foods, 3121 Grand Ave., and Peggy Harper, employee at Staples, 1333 Buckeye Ave., said the businesses also have canvas bags for sale.

Additionally, Wal-Mart, 534 S. Duff Ave., has been providing recycled plastic bags for their customers to use, and Cub Foods has a recycle bin for old plastic bags.

But using environmentally friendly bags aren’t the only things businesses have been doing.

Jeramie Strout, store manager of the Wal-Mart Supercenter, said the stretch wrap, the shipping boxes and all of the office paper used in the managers’ department is recycled and used again.

Strout said Wal-Mart has worked with the laundry detergent companies to come up with a smaller, more condensed package while still cleaning the same number of loads for the same price. By doing this, Wal-Mart can get more packages on the truck and make fewer deliveries, which saves gas over the long run.

The Wal-Mart Supercenter also has skylights on the top of the ceiling that let light into the building to reduce energy, Strout said. When it gets dark outside, they have an electronic eye installed that estimates how much light is needed. Electronic eyes are also used to shut off the lights when the offices, bathrooms and freezer departments are not in use.

Streit said the west Hy-Vee uses a heat reclaim system in the freezer department — which takes the excess heat from one device and uses the heat for another purpose. Hy-Vee also has a water reclaim system.

Harper said Staples is doing more than just selling environmentally friendly bags. She said they also have a program in which customers can bring in old laptops, monitors, printers and hard drives and Staples will take care of the recycling for a $10 fee.