Carrier Bag Poll

[Jez]

Now that it seems that Christmas shopping is looming i was wondering if i should put a poll out about Carrier Bags! Should we pay for them?
Answer yes
no

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by Jez

Now that it seems that Christmas shopping is looming i was wondering if i should put a poll out about Carrier Bags! Should we pay for them?
Answer yes
no

Bit simplistic - yes, is my basic answer but I think that there is an alternative - don't use plastic carrier bags at all .... ?

Sorry, I was also making an assumption - you are referring to *plastic* bags? - paper ones are less of a problem ... and then, there's plastic and plastic ... and hessian ....

[Jez]

With Christmas Looming and the amount of carrier bags that we will go through. Do WAB members and guests think of being charged for carrier bags. Yes and follow other Countries or No not another charge.

[glsammy]

We use plastic carrier bags for our weekly shopping, but we've used the same ones now for almost a year. In all the time I've been going to our supermarket I've never seen anyone else re-using old bags, some bring there own bags which is fine, but the vast majority use new bags every time. Obviously most people never even consider it worth the bother.
So yes, by all means charge for them.

[medieval knievel]

it worked a treat here in ireland; plus it means that you can get decent carrier bags now. M&S do the best.

[wildone]

I frequently forget to take bags into the shop although I have a couple in the car. If I am only buying two or three items I will carry them loose back to the car instead of having yet another bag. Perhaps if we were charged for them it might jog my memory. Which certainly would not be a bad thing.

wildone

[Ollie]

No problem with them charging for them as we never use them. All our supermarket shopping goes back into a trolley after checkout and then to the car boot where it's put in plastic carrying boxes that we have had years. Same at any other shops where we need to carry goods, we have our own lightweight carrying bags that are reusable
Roger

[Meles meles]

I think it would be a good idea, Most people have bags or rucksacks. Why not use them??
Apart from what it does to the enviroment, I have in my past worked on tips and its a shame as to the amount of death they can cause. Have also on a walk seen fish died wrapped in them and a couple of small mammals at other times.

Whilst on the subject, Plastic used for foods. Is all this neccesary. Especially considering they say that these can not be recycled. Why not just use cling film etc Instead of as well??
when you look at it we use so many un-neccesary items just in the supermarkets

The list goes on, Kebab/burger boxs. As an ex street sweeper in sutton, I could have restocked the kebeb shop weekly on the amount of them thrown on the floor. Countries like spain dont use them. Only foil or parchment paper.

We say we are a country that leads others, In this respect I feel strongly we need to look at other countries.

Sorry to ramble, its something that has bothered me for years

[Jez]

Originally Posted by Meles meles

I think it would be a good idea, Most people have bags or rucksacks. Why not use them??
Apart from what it does to the enviroment, I have in my past worked on tips and its a shame as to the amount of death they can cause. Have also on a walk seen fish died wrapped in them and a couple of small mammals at other times.

Whilst on the subject, Plastic used for foods. Is all this neccesary. Especially considering they say that these can not be recycled. Why not just use cling film etc Instead of as well??
when you look at it we use so many un-neccesary items just in the supermarkets

The list goes on, Kebab/burger boxs. As an ex street sweeper in sutton, I could have restocked the kebeb shop weekly on the amount of them thrown on the floor. Countries like spain dont use them. Only foil or parchment paper.

We say we are a country that leads others, In this respect I feel strongly we need to look at other countries.

Sorry to ramble, its something that has bothered me for years

I don't think nobody on WAB minds ramblers.

[Deer Stalker]

Nothing is for free. We're probably already paying for them anyway but the charges are hidden in the price of the items you buy.

On our weekly food shop at the supermarket, we've got the fabric ones that you re-use.

[svenrufus]

Sure, Charge for them, why not.

But I do get a bit tetchy about all the attention paid to plastic carrier bags. As irritating as it can be to try and figure out what to do with all the plastic bags we are given, it is not the biggest environmental issue around shopping. I really worry that all the focus on plastic bags allows people to take their eye off the real issues. The warm glow we get from saying no to a plastic bag allows us to avoid having to make more significant changes such as not buying so much useless junk in the first place!

First off, the big thing to think about is your shopping habits. Where does your food come from, how much other packaging, how were the people of the environment around where it was produced treated... and so on.

I just looked up some stats about the amount of waste in the UK. About 80000 tonnes of plastic bags disposed of - a significant amount for sure, but it pales into insignificance against the 29.6 milion tonnes of domestic waste produced in other ways. Where's the pressure to tackle that? Why not a poll with the heading 'Should we pay a deposit on glass bottles?' - significantly more weight in glass, never mind the embedded energy used in making it. Countless other similar examples to choose from. .....

Did you really need that widget you bought last week, which will have broken by next week anyway? Do you have a disposable pen? Do you stop for coffee in places where they serve it in cardboard cups rather than somewhere that gives you a china cup? Why have you got 56" plasma telly (and is it on standby?) .....

Don't accept plastic bags, as they are wasteful and unnecessary, but don't duck the bigger issues either.

[Wildwood]

I voted to pay for plastic bags as it might encourage people to reuse them or better still get canvas bags. Tesco's green points sceme where you get a clubcard point for each bag reused seems to have had an effect, I've seen more people reuse bags since it's been introduced so that might be the way to go for other supermarkets as well. I always use canvas bags and carry one with me at all times when I go out in case I buy something. I'm also mindful of packaging and buy fruit and veg loose or in biodegradable or compostable packaging whenever possible and use Ecover products and get them refilled at my local health food shop.

I live on the coast and often pick up plastic bags on the beach as well as plastic bottles, cups and crisp packets. All this plastic floating about causes real problems. I wish people would be more responsible about desposing of it all.

[nightshade]

Once upon a time.........
There were no plastic bags!! you either used a string bag,a wicker or canvas bag
or the beautiful brown paper carrier bag with its string handles.The American films
always show a deep paper sack, which would seem worth copying

[jdurbo]

Well im a nightmare cause i dont always go to the same shop, i like to go to morrisons but sometimes cant be bothered to drive to morrisons so end up going to tesco which is much closer so i have to carry different bags in my car all the time! (So the boot of my car looks like a bag of bags)

jen xxx

[Billy Wobble Dagger]

Originally Posted by jdurbo

Well im a nightmare cause i dont always go to the same shop, i like to go to morrisons but sometimes cant be bothered to drive to morrisons so end up going to tesco which is much closer so i have to carry different bags in my car all the time! (So the boot of my car looks like a bag of bags)

jen xxx

I'm sure you can use tescos bags in morrisons and morrisons bags in tescos, or have I missed something.

Svenrufus is correct that plastic bags make up only a tiny portion of the problem. There was a thread some time ago "Plans To Charge For Household Rubbish" which covered a lot of points about packaging etc.
http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...d-rubbish.html

As for plastic bags, why don't the supermarkets keep piles of cardboard boxes at the tills any more? It has only being in the last 10 years that this practice has stopped. There is no need for the amount of bags used everyday, there are many other solutions that have already been mentioned, the canvas bags are the best I think.

BWD

[wildone]

Originally Posted by jdurbo

Well im a nightmare cause i dont always go to the same shop, i like to go to morrisons but sometimes cant be bothered to drive to morrisons so end up going to tesco which is much closer so i have to carry different bags in my car all the time! (So the boot of my car looks like a bag of bags)

jen xxx

Most Supermarkets will give extra points or whatever regardless of which bag you are re-using.
Notice that my local Tesco usually forgets to credit the extra (green) points, even when you have told them you are not using new bags.

[jdurbo]

Yes Im sure i could use tesco bags in morrisions and vice versa ,Im not a snob by any means but would just rather not do it!

jen xxx

[Oscar2006]

Originally Posted by jdurbo

Yes Im sure i could use tesco bags in morrisions and vice versa ,Im not a snob by any means but would just rather not do it!

jen xxx

I have used an assortment of competitors bags in Tescos without any issue, and got green points.
I have now stopped reusing the bags as I find that they break quite easily with repeated use, resulting in shopping all over the floor.

[werdnal]

I've just been to Asda this morning, and used my 6 Tesco brand reusable bags. They don't bat an eyelid. I alternate between the 2 stores and I'm sure they'd rather have your custom regardless of what bag you use!

[GriGGerS]

I Agree.. Charge for the bags, this will at least promote the reuse of the bags...

[clover green]

Originally Posted by glsammy

We use plastic carrier bags for our weekly shopping, but we've used the same ones now for almost a year. In all the time I've been going to our supermarket I've never seen anyone else re-using old bags, some bring there own bags which is fine, but the vast majority use new bags every time. Obviously most people never even consider it worth the bother.
So yes, by all means charge for them.

Ditto! glsammy has said it for me!
I do check the re-useable bags regularly & remove the old, split or worn ones, (these go back to be recycled), or I would end up with a similar problem to the one "Oscar2006" mentioned above, i.e. ripped bags and with my shopping everywhere! I also use the "bags for life", aswell.
When plastic bags are provided for free, most folk over-use them and take it for granted. If they had to pay, then many would be more diligent with their use (hopefully?)

[Billy Wobble Dagger]

I was in Sainsburys this evening and was stunned to find out that the packaging that is used to keep the freshly packed leafs in, ie rocket, spinach etc is not recyclable. How can this be, and is it well known. Needless to say the Wobble Dagger home is with out water cress tonight

BWD

[cavscott]

I think most people on this forum are quite aware of this kind of thing. Generally, I think most people think all this reusing bags and so on is a fad. Yesterday, on my bus home for work I sat and listened to a couple of old dears who were bemoaning the fact that they have to buy their plastic bags from Lidl. One actually said that it was their right to have plastic bags and not having them was going back to the 'bad old days'.

The trouble with all of our modern convenience life is that people have got so use to it, its very difficult to turn it around and re-educate problem. It's the same argument that's raging with cheap food. Some organisations, like the NFU, are predicting the end of the cheap food era, but I have to wonder if we've gone too far down the road. Will people really accept an increase in food prices, or even paying for shopping bags? And in a time where the supermarkets are waging a massive price war, will they take the chance of losing customers by piling on the cost?

Cav

[medieval knievel]

Originally Posted by cavscott

Will people really accept an increase in food prices, or even paying for shopping bags? And in a time where the supermarkets are waging a massive price war, will they take the chance of losing customers by piling on the cost?

if it's made mandatory across the board, people will do it.

in ireland, you don't have to pay for those filmy bags you use to bag your veg; only the carrier bags you get at the checkout. i'm not sure if the veg bags are exempt based on weight or on function, but there are still plenty of sliced pans being sold in bags. i don't see why they can't go back to wrapping these in paper.