AUSTIN (KXAN) — In an effort to keep Texas beautiful for generations to come, H-E-B is offering its shoppers a free reusable bag for Earth Day.

The company will be giving away 150,000 bags to customers statewide Friday, starting at 3 p.m.

There is a limit of one bag per customer at checkout while supplies last.

“Every day we find ways to get our customers involved in taking care of Texas — whether it’s shopping with reusable bags, participating in neighborhood clean-ups or holding recycling contest in schools,” Leticia Mendoza, H-E-B public affairs managers for the Central Texas Region said Thursday.

H-E-B is also the presenting sponsor at Austin’s Earth Day Festival on Saturday. The event runs from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Mueller Lake Park, located at 4550 Mueller Central Dr.

The festival features more than 75 exhibitors, dozens of food options including an array of food trucks, live music and a kids zone. For more info on the festival, visit their website here.

Mixed reviews on plastic bag ban

The city of Austin’s bag ban, officially called the Single-Use Carryout Bag Ordinance, went into effect March 1, 2013. While the ordinance did not eliminate all paper or plastic carryout bags, it aimed to increase the use of reusable bags. In March 2014, KXAN reported about 30 percent fewer bags were going into Austin landfills, but there were some unintended consequences.

A report in June of the same year found a growing number of reusable bags ending up in the trash and making their way to landfills. A shopper needs to take a reusable bag to the store with them between and four and 12 times before throwing it out for it to lower the environmental impact.

Gov. Greg Abbott has made plastic bag bans an example of a growing problem in the state. “The truth is Texas is being California-ized and you may not even be noticing it,” the governor-elect said in January 2015.