bluekarin Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I was actually complemented on my choice of reuseable bag today. I was shopping in Boots a few months ago and when the girl behind the till asked if I wanted a bag I said no I already have one. When the transaction had finished, she said "Thank you for saving the planet!" I had to text my friend as I was flabbergasted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyChickenLover- Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Tesco can't give out bags fast enough. They give you bags regardless of whether or not you have your own. Once I went in, with my own bag. When I got to the checkout I told the cashier that I had my own bag as soon as I got to the checkout. She packed it into two plastic bags anyway (it would have easily fit in 1) so I just emptied the stuff out again and put it in my own bag. The shop wasn't even busy. I was the only one in there! It said in the DM yesterday that a plastic bag is used for just 20 mins on average, but it takes 1000 years to decompose... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoopsie Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I definately agree with charging for bags, and i remember reading an article about a little corner shop that charged 5p a bag then donated the money for a community project. Excellent idea. No such thing as plastic carriers when i was in New York! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I thought till quite recently that supermarkets were told they had to charge for bags but notice that they dont in my local Waitrose or Tesco Maybe some fear they will lose custom if they do charge Petrol stations seem to charge for them though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I like the special checkout In Waitrose for customers with their own bags . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 I thought till quite recently that supermarkets were told they had to charge for bags but notice that they dont in my local Waitrose or Tesco Maybe some fear they will lose custom if they do charge Petrol stations seem to charge for them though I think they were advised to. I have certainly been pushing for it at work & I speak to customers about it too - almost all of them are for it With my place of work I think it is seen as a fine line with the customer service issue. They pride themselves on good customer service & know that SOME people WILL be annoyed at having to pay for bags. With the recent press we have noticed a big up turn in the sale of plastic bags for life & the gorgeous green bags we do,made of sacking type stuff - they hold heaps of groceries For the past 3 years I have given my Christmas Hampers of home made goodies in those sorts of bags,& they go down very well For me the banning or charging of carriers can't come soon enough - I cannot tell you how happy it would make me & how it would improve the state of the skin on my hands after a shift (we have a wet cloth to dab our fingers on,so we can open bags for people...its very drying & make you chapped after a short time,especially when the air-con is on) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbug Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I like the Morrisons bags with potatoes /carrots/ or leeks on front 29p for small or 39p for large and are very strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubereglu Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Most of the time we take our own bags, apart from when we've bought more than we originally thought we would or if we genuinely forget. Have to say though, plastic bags do come in handy occasionally, particularly when being used as nappy bin bags at my sisters' house currently! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperwife Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I try to remember to take bags, ive got tons if I dont remember I usually buy one, I know this means that I usually end up with tons of bags...but I see it as a sort of personal charge, so hopefully I dont forget next time. My SIL used to now she looks amazed if I dont have one cathy x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I bought some BHWT bags 5 years ago and they are still going strong. I always take them with me when I go shopping., but make sure I have one in the car just in case. I wouldn't have a problem paying for bags. I think all supermarkets should just do it, that way no one can complain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I agree - I think there should be a charge for bags with a view to s"Ooops, word censored!"ping them altogether. I use my Trolley Dolly bags all the time and have fold up bags in all handbags I might use. If I leave them in the car then I take the shopping out in the basket or trolley and pack my bags there. I used to complain 30 odd years ago when the owner of our small local shop put bananas in a bag - they have their own wrapper! He used to mock me in front of the queue for "single handedly trying to save the planet" I used to reply that this was the world my children and their future children were going to grow up in. He stopped saying it quite suddenly when he became a grandfather - by then I hardly used his shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 I have about 20 bags for life, or versions thereof... but what I find REALLY difficult is getting them out of the house and back into the car again!! I always forget, so am guilty in this respect. in my defence tho, plastic bags do get reused - dog poo collection in the garden, sending wet swimming gear home with kids' friends are 2 examples, and if we get a build-up then they go in the placcy bag recycling bin at the supermarket. what really annoys me is how pernickety our council is about what they will and wont recycle - for example, why cant they recycle tetrapaks? and ours will take a plastic bottle that held laundry liquid, but not one that took something chemical. so we put the stuff out in the black box as per instructions and very often find stuff they wont recycle that then goes into the landfill bin - and they take it no probs. but was a diversion, back to the original point: I do think supermarkets should charge for bags, but I think it was tried in Ireland fairly recently and the results were not as positive as one might have hoped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 Our local authority provides compostable corn starch dog poo bags for free .... they come in packs of 25, yup you've guessed it..... packaged in a PLASTIC BAG however I always re-use these plastic bags for dog treats or covering seedlings. We get at least 8 charity bags through the door win a fortnight; I save them up and either use them to pack things I am taking to our local hospice charity shop, or give them to that shop to use for their packing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahJo Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 not defending the mighty "T" as no longer shop there BUT 23yrs ago when I was a checkout lass - I worked there and we charged 2p per carrier bag Don't understand why the retailers when backwards in this - maybe it was the pressure of being charged in the 1st place? Now we are trying to get back I always have a stash of bags in the boot of my car - OH is less practical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Far more plastic leaves the store as packaging than as plastic bags, that's what upsets me. Do we really need two layers on everything. Why do cat food tins need to be plastic wrapped and food double wrapped, do veg really need to be in a plastic bag they have their own good wrapping. Pack of four yogurt already in plastic gets another coating grrrrrrrr One day I will be brave enough to remove it and leave it at the checkout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoopsie Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I put a request in at my local supermarket for paper bags for loose fruit and veg rather than plastic ones (well they have paper bags for mushrooms already so why not?) Guess what - no response. I don't use a bag - it all goes loose on the conveyor instead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Just use the mushroom bags - I do if I've not got enough of the mesh fruit and veg nets I use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I don't use a bag - it all goes loose on the conveyor instead! Same here mostly! We also have quiet a few of those charity collection bags through the door. I use them as bin liners, I can't remember when I last bought a roll of bin liners. If we didn't get them through the door I'd have to buy bin liners so that seems fair enough to me, no more or less plastic being used. Claret - I wonder about how much more environmentally friendly those cornstarch dog poo bags are. I also use the biodegradable ones (have to buy them though!) but then can't help thinking doesn't it get cancelled out when you put the bag in a bin that has been lined with a plastic bin bag? I've wondered about picking up the poo with the biodegradable bag and then flinging it into woods/hedge (ie not where anyone is going to walk) to break down properly, but can't bring myself to do it, it just doesn't seem right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Onya sell special mesh bags for fruit and veg. You get 5 in a small drawstring bag - http://www.onyabags.co.uk/shop.php?crn=208 Ok, so may not be cheap, but I have been using mine for 5+ years and they are still going strong The Waitrose Ladies always comment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelliemif Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 We've just moved house and the local village shop charges 5p a bag. On the days when I go for milk and dont take a bag but come back with the kitchen sink that 5p makes me think and I carry my shopping the half mile home in my arms instead. I say charge for bags -it's the only way people will 'remember' to take them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I have the Onya mesh bags for markets too - brilliant. Lavenders_Blue if we're out in the wilds then I use a stick to flick it under a hedge/ out of the way - far more environmentally friendly. For beaches and other walks I take the MukSak, which I then empty when I find a dog poo bin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa C Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Charge people for plastic bags. It’s simple. People will reuse them more then. I have a bag which folds into its own ‘cat faced’ pouch and clips on my bag. It’s never forgotten as it gets clipped back on my bag as soon as it’s emptied and is often admired by the check-out staff. I also make ‘morsebags’. Anyone else heard of them? Inspirational story, easy to make and I have about 3 or 4 of them. Some of the bags look so funky www.moresebags.com I always seem to have more ‘promotional’ cotton bags than what is required! I collect them constantly from fetes, recycling demos etc. There are always some in the car. Like the idea of re-useable fruit bags! I have been one of those people to leave all the fruit packaging at the tills. I’ve only done it a couple of times, and the last time I had other shopping to do. By the time I got home, the nectarines had bruised! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramble Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 As I said above, I'm 100% in favour of doing whatever we can to reduce plastic bag use BUT I did hear an interesting point a while ago that does put a different spin on it ... apparently, plastic bags are made from a bi-product from the oil industry. Even if we don't have plastic bags we will STILL have that bi-product which will need to be disposed of, so not using plastic bags wouldn't solve the waste problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I think that link should read http://www.morsbags.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa C Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 I think that link should read http://www.morsbags.com/ I think you're right... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
