to think retailers have some responsibity?

One of my best shopping bags is the one I made from the jeans which were cut off me in A&E 6 years ago after I had broken my leg. Hardwearing, strong and washable and attractive with the addition of machine embroidery I love it. I always take my own bags and was a bit miffed at Duty Free to be charged 20 cents for a bag recently. Not even wide enough to line the bin !

I have not used carrier bags for food shopping for over 40 years, except very occasionally, but things like clothing, birthday cards etc and other things that can get damaged or soiled if just placed unprotected in an ordinary shopping bag, should have suitable protective wrapping provided by the retailer. Alternatively they should replace any item that gets damaged or soiled between shop and home.

I was in M&S today [Tuesday] and bought 2 clothes items which they put in a bag[and there was no charge.] So it's not happening in all their stores.

When I see some of the customers in Sainsbury's taking about a dozen bags and putting 2 or 3 items in each I would like to charge them 25p a time and see how many they needed then.

I don't know why it always seems to have happened in Sainsbury's, but if the queue is long I stand there and count the bags.

rosesarered, it's only in Scotland that this legislation has come into force this week, and it's not going to happen in England until October 2015.

It's already in place in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Primark use brown paper carriers don't see why M&S can't do the same. I use plastic carriers in my waste bin. When they start to charge for them I will have to buy bin bags. It's just another way to fleece the customer.

I wonder what archaeologists of the future will think when they dig down and find our rubbish dumps.

Why can't retailers use this type of plastic?

www.biodeg.org/faq/#1

I was in M&S yesterday (Wednesday) and my (clothing) purchases were put in a bag. The assistant had a plentiful supply at her till.

Brown paper carriers are great, - except when it rains. I once bought something in Primark in Exeter and by the time I queued for the bus home and then walked the half a mile to my house the carrier had completely disintigrated and all that was left was the garment in a soggy mess.
So now I take fold-up shopping bags every time I do any sort of shopping.

FlicketyB (and others)

It is not happening in England until next October!

Beat me to it Ana! Though when I asked in Sainburys this morning they said February!

We have had to pay for plastic bags in this country for years (South Africa). It makes an enormous difference to the environment. Instead of chucking your bag away you reuse it until it ends up as a bin liner. It is irritating and you do feel resentful at having to pay for a bags - but it is the right thing to do and you do get used to it. Our country looks so much better without plastic bags fluttering from trees and fences.

Even for clothes? We already reuse food carrier bags. Shops should use paper or biodegradable plastic.

Like the ones in the link above.

What did we do before plastic?

Same here Deeda- I just cannot believe the number of bags some people use !!! madness.

Biodegradable bags are not the solution, as they are made with maize and it takes acres and acres of land, water, fertiliser, etc, to grow the crop.

Cloth bags take little space and can be washed regularly to put new clothes in. You just get used to it- once you stop wasting time complaining, lol ;) honest.

I did not realise they were made of maize granjura (of course, they have to be made of something!).

I agree with your last paragraph.

And if you really really REALLY need a plastic bag they are 5p - which should go to charity! They haven't been abolished totally.

Here is a link which relates to Wales and what happens to those 5p charges here:
www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/11549245.YOUR_AM_WRITES__South_Wales_East_AM_Jocelyn_Davies/

The ones in my link above are not made of maize

here it is again www.biodeg.org/faq/#1

We have our shopping delivered by Tesco. Yesterday, in one bag was a single avocado, in another 2 packs of smoked salmo, in another a single bag of potatoes etc etc. we do send most of the bags back the following week, keeping a few back for using as bin liners. Why can't the person ( the chooser/ packer of the shopping ) have a little common sense & pack the goods in a more economical ( bag wise) way ? I put it down to laziness.

Would it not be a good idea to feed these thoughts back to the retailer- same about excess packaging from Amazon, etc . if enough people wrote back that it is putting them off buying on line- the message might get through, eventually. Why can't they deliver in strong recycled cardboard boxes with a recycled cardboard liner which can be replaced in any stains or spills? And it would make much more sense for transporting too.

Some rolls of biodegradable refuse sacks smell revolting, like stale tobacco. I wonder what they are made from.

At least the Tesco bags are biodegradable.

I used to hate supermarkets using brown paper carrier bags years ago, when I used to have to walk home in the rain with my mother carrying the shopping and the bottom of the bag would fall out. I can remember feeling like crying, I was so happy when plastic carriers became more common. However, many paper carriers had beautiful prints on them and few had advertising. I do remember being cross about having to walk around displaying just exactly where I had been shopping, and my mother used to always turn our shopping bags inside out.

I think we just need to get used to it, as we can't carry on using plastic and throwing it away at the rate we do. I'm afraid even biodegradable plastic bags are not very environmentally friendly - they are usually still made from oil just like non-biodegradable plastics, and they produce harmful greenhouse gases when breaking down in landfill (which takes years).

I agree that it is not unreasonable to expect items of clothing to be put in a bag, but these are often thick paper which looks so much more classy anyway. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the retailer to cover the cost of these.

joelise you can opt for a bagless delivery from Tesco. It is on the order site.

It's about time we refused excess plastic packaging. I had a cucumber wrapped in polythene inside a cellophane packet yesterday. Complete overkill.

Nowadays I put most fruit and veg loose in my basket or trolley, and don't bother with the plastic bags they have hanging by those counters. But one day I'm going to summon up the courage to leave unneccessay wrappings at the till.

Has anyone done this yet?

Anya That would be a good idea, but we live in a town house, so shopping has to be carried up to 1st & 2nd floors as well as the ground floor. granjura I think I will ask Tesco to send the shopping in fewer bags.

Here is a link where you can give comments to Tesco.

https://www.tescocomments.com/se.ashx?s=2511374573735288

Jane10 you said Its simply not acceptable to me to have to subsidise the retailer`s provision of packaging.

When you get "free" bags the cost is passed to the customer anyway.

Surely it is the customer's responsibility to look after their new purchase, whether by bringing a bag or other container with them, or purchasing a bag. We have got used to buying in a carefree way and having bags thrust upon us with every purchase but we don't have a god-given right to continue doing that.