5p on plastic bags

Apparently since this was introduced in Wales the use of plastic bags has been reduced by 75%. What other suggestions does anyone have to get people to use less of them?

I can fold my bags very small and always have at least two in my handbag but when I bring them out in shops and say I will use my own bags there is always a look of surprise.

We keep a bag full of bags in the boot of both cars so whenever we go to the supermarket we have them ready to use. I also notice how many people use the shop bags and it seems to be the majority.

I assume we will still get bags when we go to other shops, clothes, household etc so that will supply enough to cope with the supermarket. They never seem to wear out.

We don't use bags in our bin, just wash it out afterwards but then we don't have anything messy to put in the bin as all the veg peelings etc go into the composter.

In Wales you have to pay for plastic bags in all shops, Moved. I expect England will be the same.

Whenever I go to reuse a plastic carrier bag these days it usually disintegrates on me, so I don't think it's all that long before they start to break down. I do see the point about the damage caused by them though [those plastic things that hold cans together are a bit bug bear of mine; can't imagine the damage they can cause to wildlife and they don't break down]. I often park at Tescos when I go to the gym and then feel obliged to nip in and buy something, often meaning to buy just a couple of times but then get tempted to buy more. Also, buying something from, say HMV means that I have a cd in a plastic bag with a receipt so don't feel as if I'm walking out with something not paid for. I think, what I'm trying to say [I'm thinking this through as I'm typing] is the provision of plastic bags means people are more likely to impulse buy. Also, of course, people are using home delivery services more and more and the supermarkets would use plastic bags for that [I assume]. A supermarket I used years ago always had lots of cardboard boxes at the checkout that we used to put our shopping in, but I'd assume they get recycled now [and I suppose it looked quite messy, but me, being the clutter junkie that I am used to use them for storing things at home ].

Teasco give you a choice when ordering online of either plastic bags or plastic crates - they carry the crates to wherever you want and unload them there, so you don't have to lug them to cupboard or freezer.

Those can-linkers are lethal to wildlife - they get stuck in them. I cut through the loops before putting them in the landfill bin.

Ana Are you saying my DS's fiancée will have to pay for a bag for her wedding dress? OOOH Will it only be 5p?

Yes! Only 5p whatever the size!

We have just spent a week in a cottage in Wales and arranged a Tesco delivery for the day we arrived.It was delivered in lots of plastic bags for which there was no charge so is this double standards when they want the custom? Or is there normally no charge on a large shop?

Sick to death of people whining about forgetting bags.....we remember to take our purses, phones, car keys etc....just add it to the list of essentials. Even in my 'posh' handbag I keep one of those 'Turtle' string bags just in case. Its not rocket science.

From Tesco's website:

'From Tuesday 24th September, we will be required to charge for single use carrier bags issued to customers with a delivery or collection postcode within Wales. There will be a charge of 35p per order, which is worked out based on the number of bags needed to pack an order. You'll see the charge itemised on your delivery receipt as "Bag Charge". All proceeds will be paid to the RSPB Cymru.'

I'm assuming they mean 2013, so it looks as though you just made it, annsixty!

When I order online there is a place on the order from for bags/no bags. I think it is the same order form wherever you order from.

We had a big delivery from Tesco for our holiday in Cornwall in July and they didn't leave bags.

I had my own bags in the car but left them there because I did not plan to do loads of shopping. Needless to say I came out with a trolley load. After paying replaced the goodies in the trolley.

I was stopped by security who could have been more pleasant but fortunately my receipt was to hand.

Suppose I shall have to buy bin bags now!

I've thought about that in relation to clothes, Liz. If customers refuse to pay for a bag there could be people walking out of M&S with coats and dresses over their arm - bit of a nightmare for the security staff!

We love a moan when things change! Everyone will get used to it and either pay up or remember their own bags!

It is not just the environmental impact of discarded bags but the impact of production too. Many clothes shops have paper carriers which I suspect are just as 'damaging' to produce as plastic bags.

Agree re packaging ..do think a concerted campaign against over packaged fruit, meat etc would be good. I saw that Waitrose does minced meat in plastic bags rather than trays and vacuum pack.. small steps!

Ana not sure but I think the security staff have to see you steal the goods before they can approach you.

Really? What about LizG with her trolley of groceries?

When I told a member of staff at M & S that a woman was walking out of the shop with a label hanging out of her sweater that is what she told me.

Seems a very strange policy!

I do not think that is true! They need reasonable grounds to stop someone. That sounds reasonable enough to me.

I had a colleague who was accused of stealing bottles of booze from a supermarket. Police went to her house following a tip off from a member of the public! The police or store looked at CCTV saw she had been at the store as the informant said. This was 2-3 weeks after the alleged incident.
She was very organised and had kept the receipt to check against her bank statement ( I would not !) and could prove that on that date she had left the store with whisky/ gin she had paid for!

I don't keep receipts but as I usually pay by card I have a record. It must be very upsetting to be accused like that - I wonder how it happens?

Would your card receipt detail the purchase! That is what avoided a charge!

I think that the informer may have been a thief trying to distract the security from noticing an accomplice leave with stolen items by saying they had seen someone leave with stolen goods. Clever strategy!

When I was last working at a "proper" job, our boss was a very keen recycler, bins for everything, ie. tea bags, fruit peel cores etc went into a bin for compost, paper was printed on both sides if purely for internal use, cans, plastic bottles put in a separate bin. He also kept a bin for plastic bags, the idea being that if someone was nipping to the supermarket to get some lunch, they could take a bag from the supply.

I used to get quite incensed by a couple of staff members, one of whom was a twenty something young mum who would come back every lunch time with shopping in a new bag.

No, it's a fair cop! I must have an honest face - I never get stopped at airports either (well, there was the heinous crime of having an apple in my backpack when I landed at Auckland).

I am afraid once I had got over the surprise of being stopped and it was all sorted I found it hilarious and went quite giggy. Spent time trying to put the security man at his ease!