Paying for carrier bags.

I'm back from crying in the corner

It is very difficult to judge whether written remarks should be taken seriously or not. Thanks JBF and merlot for being nice to me.

My problem this morning, apart from DH repeating the "Old Bag" thing, was not having enough hands in Boots to find my credit card, vouchers, bags etc
The assistant in Savers had it right, she took the bag I had brought in and filled it as she scanned, leaving me free to find my purse. I will have to invest in a trolly!

pittycity, I will just have to get one of those Sainsbury's bags- brilliant (and I will use it again and again and again, promise). Can't believe the fuss really!

Here in Scotland we've had the charge for a while now. Nothing happened when it was introduced except some folks started taking their own bags and some folks paid 5p. The sky didn't fall in!

I've been using my own bags for years and tbh, it's actually rather nice not to be questioned as to why I do that (Primark were very snippy) or, with M&S at one time, they wouldn't allow you to Collect by Car if you weren't using their bags.

The one issue I have is with meat and fish, as I do think for hygiene reasons that should be wrapped but what I do now is put it in my bag and then chuck the bag into the washing machine. Easy!

I thought I would miss bags to some extent for rubbish but even where I live in the depths of the countryside, we now have recycling of everything, including food waste, with the exception of glass so we don't have much proper rubbish. I don't mind taking glass to the recycling centre as I think it's fun to chuck it in and hear the noise it makes.

The young fellers in the Co-op do the loading the bag for you thing. Trouble is, they automatically reach for the plastic carrier bags. I have to frantically wave my bright blue nylon bag right under their noses before they get the message!

My DH works for the Co-op. You should hear the stories he tells me of the verbal abuse he has had over the last few days. A certain customer makes an awful fuss if he isn't offered a carrier bag, even if he has just purchased a bag of crisps. Goodness knows how he will cope today!

East of England Co-op has charged for bags for many years, so we are used to taking our own there. I even have a voucher for a free bag for life.

I have just seen a Facebook post from a local pub which is giving away a FREE plastic bag with every pint purchased today - brilliant!!

Sainsburys are charging 5p for their bag for life, so in theory you'll pay once and that's it forever. Tesco's were giving theirs away free, one per customer, last Friday.
I've been using Italian shopping bags, big and seemingly indestructible, for the past 4 years, I keep them in the car so theoretically I always have them ready -- unless I go by bus or forget to take them in the store--

Lady in Sainsburys was telling me that one customer this morning refused to pay for a bag so made her husband carry all the individual items in his arms à la Hyacinth Bucket....
I was a little taken aback at no bag for new cream sweater but I'll learn!

What happens with online shopping, food or clothes or whatever? I know for Tesco I tick the 'no bags' box.

That's a really nice bag.

Loopylou for online groceries the bag charge is averaged out (Sainsburys are charging a flat 40p) I have no bags and the nice man carries the boxes into my kitchen and unloads on to the table.

As for other online purchases "a bag" is defined in the rules as being open, so sealed bags that come through the post or click and collect do not incur the charge.

I do not begrudge 5p for a charity.

That's interesting Pittcity, thank you.

Bought some clothing from Cotton Traders today, but was ready with my own bag, I had a couple with me anyway, to buy some food items from M&S.The assistant seemed pleased not to have an angry comment.I think on the whole it's a good idea though.If you forget your bags ( which I often do) it will go to charity.

Why don't clothing stores go back to those paper carrier bags. I remember the ones with string handles, ouch! Yesterday, my DH had three or four customers who went off with a whole load of plastic carriers from the bottom of the checkout. I really do not believe some people. They'll probably forget to take them with them when they go shopping!

Asda emailed me last week, re online shopping, to say that foodstuffs that really do need to be in a bag will still be put into a carrier bag, and that they won`t be charged for in those cases.

The news is full of England having to pay 5p for bags!!! As you know here in Scotland we have had this law for a while now and it is really not a big problem!!

Unwrapped food still gets put into little thin bags and you soon get used to having bags in the car at all times. I have a couple of nylon bags that fold up really small and fit in my handbag.

The only time I feel it strange is when buying clothes and not getting a store bag.

MacDonalds charge for a paper bag (so its not just plastic ones), but if you don't buy one they still put the carton of fries in a small bag!

We didn't use free bags years ago, no reason not to use our own bags again.

For the past couple of years our village shop has had a sign on the door asking customers to donate their carrier bags so they can recycle them as they are reluctant to encourage people to use new ones.

Very commendable but.....today there's a sign inside the shop saying they are now going to charge 5p per bag!

merlotgran according to the BBC news just now , if a store has under 250 employees they don't have to charge for bags. That would apply to village small shops unless they are part of a national chain.

About 9 billion plastic bags are used yearly in the UK... and around the world, a few facts:

• Over 1 trillion plastic bags are used every year worldwide (Earth Policy Institute). Consider China, a country of 1.3 billion, which consumes 3 billion plastic bags daily, according to China Trade News.
• About 2 million plastic bags are used every minute around the world (Earth Policy Institute).
• Approximately 32 million tons of plastic waste are generated annually, representing 12.7% of total municipal solid waste (Environmental Protection Agency).
• Only 1 in 200 plastic bags in the UK are recycled (BBC).
• The average American family takes home 1,500 plastic bags a year (Natural Resources Defense Council).
• Americans use and throw away 100 billion plastic bags every year, which requires 12 million barrels of oil per year to manufacture. (The Wall Street Journal).

We in Scotland pay for all bags apart from the chemist shops and the butchers. I do not know what all the fuss is about as it is just second nature here now to always carry spare bag. In Scotland the revenue collected from paying for any bags goes to charity .

I still think it is a con trick to make people buy more bin liners and rubbish bags. I always used a carrier bag in my kitchen bin and had one in each wastepaper basket, now I will have to buy a roll of bags.

perhaps having to buy bin bags will eventually have an effect on shopping behaviour, and encouraging people to avoid all the totally un-necessary packaging- and cut down on waste all round? Now that would be great- wouldn't it? Buy apples, fruit and veg loose, in paper bags, perhaps, etc, etc, etc. The sum totaly of billions of small efforts add up to trillions of m3 of waste- who can argue against that?

Since the system changed where I live, 3 years ago- once people had stopped complaining- they started to think, and act- and it works. Waste has been hugely cut, especially disposable nappies!

NO collection and all the waste has to be paid by weight- certainly does concentrate the mind. Polluter pays- and as we are very careful with limiting packaging and recycling + composting- our bill has been reduced by more than half. Hurrah.

granjura "Waste has been hugely cut, especially disposable nappies!"
How? Have babies cut down on weeing and pooing?
Some people think the amount of water and cleaning products/energy used to clean and disinfect towelling nappies is more damaging than disposables.
I do recycle and compost.
And I reused plastic bags-for rubbish. (How did the BBC calculate 1 in 200?)
I also never put fresh fruit/veg in plastic bags when I buy it. It goes into my shopping basket and then into the bag once it has been weighed

Is it really necessary for supermarkets to put already packaged meat in another plastic bag?

In the good old days we could take meat home from the butcher wrapped in paper and it didn't leak all over the place.

New shaped washable nappies with a cover and liner- are not at all the same as the old terry nappies we had to use. thank goodness! Much easier, the poo is got rid off into wc- and with modern washing machines, the energy and water use is much much less. The amount of water and chemicals used in the production of disposable nappies is massive and very polluting. Your figures are totally out of date.

It has also encouraged parents to try and potty train earlier- as we used to pre- disposables, which are so easy and so convenient- that many kids are not potty/toilet trained until about 1 year or more later on average nowadays. The figures are staggering- those nappies are full of a special absorbent gel which weighs a ton- but more importantly is so polluting. It's not as bad where I live as they are all incinerated- in the UK they all go into landfill.

Landfill is leaving a massive pollution legacy for the next generations and using up so much valuable landspace which will take centuries to recover, if ever. And the UK is due to run out of landfill space very soon- what then? Pray tell. Our grandchildren will NOT thank us for that legacy, that is for sure.