BRUNSWICK —  Largely inspired by Brunswick's environmental lead, all Goodwill Northern New England stores are ditching plastic bags as of Jan. 1.

"The women from Bring Your Own Bags Midcoast were so inspiring. They helped us transition from using plastic bags in Brunswick a few months ago," said Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, Goodwill NNE's CEO. "Customers tell us they've appreciated the change because they understand what a beautiful place we live in and just want to help protect it."

Plastic bags are a huge contributor to ocean pollution.

To help customers adapt to the change, the stores will have a limited number of reusable bags available in Goodwill's 29 other stores across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Store employees have been stashing totes for months, in anticipation of the change.

"Goodwill is all about recycling and re-use. Continuing to use plastic bags when we know they're harmful to our environment doesn't make sense," Roosevelt said. "Lucky for us, lots of people donate reusable bags when they give to Goodwill, so we can give those to customers. We hope they continue to use them every time they shop with us."

As of Nov. 15, half of Goodwill NNE's 30 stores will be bagless, which include stores in Falmouth, Gorham, South Portland Mill Creek, Westbrook, Auburn, Bangor, Lewiston, Topsham, Belfast and Brewer stores, along with five other stores in Vermont and New Hampshire. The other stores will ditch single-use bags on Dec. 15.

Goodwill NNE has a longer history of baglessness. The two outlet stores, one in Gorham, Maine and the other in Hudson, NH have don't offer bags. Customers wheel out their purchases in carts and load them into the car directly, they bring their own bags or they find a used box or bag to transport their purchases.

"It has never been a big deal for us," said Sarah Wert, the coordinator of one of the Buy The Pound stores. "We sell thousands of pounds of items a day through our outlet and everyone has been able to get their things home."

Goodwill Northern New England was founded on the idea of sustainability. Last year Goodwill and its donors and customers kept 50 million pounds of stuff out of the local waste stream while also creating sustainable communities by helping people work.

Goodwill NNE operates all stores in Maine and New Hampshire. The revenue supports innovative workforce programs like Job Connection, which helps people with many barriers to work tackle each barrier. Job Connection marries the best practices of social work and workforce development to help people through challenges so they can get a great job that will sustain themselves and their families.

For more information about Goodwill NNE, visit GoodwillNNE.org.