5p on plastic bags

Bluebell, the supermarkets in Wales choose a charity to donate the money to, example Tesco to RSPB

I have heaps of reusable bags mostly lying around my car. I heard some pompous git from the Taxpayers Alliance complaining that this 5p was a tax. No it isn't a tax. It's a purchase which the shopper will have the option to make or otherwise. I am a taxpayer and that organisation certainly doesn't represent me.

I think the 5p charge for a bag is a great idea, I always carry plactic bags in my handbag........something useful in there for once.
Using bags 'for other purposes' when you get them home still usually ends up with them going into landfill eventually.
Gransnet should have a bag designing competition and we could lead the way in promoting re-using bags.

Oh I see, sorry - I hadn't seen any of that! Not keeping up with the news, obviously...

The fuss I am talking about, Ana, is not on this forum but the general squawking about the issue from a lot of sources. Grans are much more sensible

We may all be agreed that we have no problem with this but DH has been on a number of other forums where people seem to equate the right to as many free plastic bags at the till as a Himan Right up there with freedom from oppression and expression and the right to life.

Feel very sorry for people whose life view is so limited that they can think like this, but it helps to be reminded that however much we agree, most of us can remember life before free plastic bags while for many the thought of having to reuse a plastic bag is as terrifying a thought as eating food a day after its sell by date!

I have to shop at Migros in Geneva occasionally. They stopped giving the plastic bags and only sold heavy duty ones at 10SF . Concentrated the mind easily. Now I buy the 10 p ones and take a few over as the big bags hold too much and I like a more evenly balanced load.

The charity bags which come through the door at least weekly make excellent swing bin liners. (I did try to stop them, but they still kept coming)

What a sensible idea Jendurham I use them for recycling why not the bins. It's obvious when someone gives you the idea isn't? Thanks.

Depends on the plastic bags.
Most supermarket plastic bags these days are made from either recycled material or are boidegradable. I always buy biodegradable for my bins. They are made from cornstarch, which is preferable to being made from the biproducts of the petrochemical industry. Those are the ones that do not biodegrade and are in the environment for hundreds of years.

What fuss? Everyone seems to be in favour of it on here, it's just a general discussion.

We have had this law in N. Ireland for some time. Quite frankly I can't see the problem. People can and do adapt very quickly. Most people now bring their own bags routinely so no charge and no bags to float about the countryside! I am in France at the moment and the same applies here. What is all the fuss about England?

We use cloth bags after DH retired and took over the shopping. He was unable to throw plastic bags away and we end up with bags of bags.

His record for a bag for life, a French one used nearly every day, is nearly seven years. (He'd have taken it back and exchanged it but we couldn't remember where it came from and the print had all worn off!). The Co-op one got exchanged last spring - not nearly as good quality!

Plastic bags take years to rot and in the meantime they are a hazard to living creatures on land and in the sea. It is so easy to take a small fabric bag or two in your pocket or car that is reuaable as it can be washed.

I have a string and a cloth bag, and both will tuck away in my shoulder bag. I always have hessian bags in the boot of my car, just in case. Some of them have printed on them 'my nana is great' or 'world's best nana.' They often bring a knowing smile from other shoppers.

I would be happy for the charge to start now, instead of waiting until 2015.

5p not enough. This will not make the slightest difference to a lot of people.
Make it 50p. That will make people think.
It's all a lot of nothing, anyway, from this government.

Can't see the problem. I always have a number of bags in the bag of the car and carry a little fold up in my handbag.

I buy those rolls of plastic bags for bin-lining, sandwiches etc. but once used they go straight in the bin and are not left dangling in trees or wafting out to sea.

I take your point that the number of plastic bags actually used might not go down much, but if they're not free people won't treat them as casually as they do now.

I use plastic bags from shopping for things like sandwiches, rubbish, swimming gear. Since there are plenty of plastic bags for sale in rolls in supermarkets, won't people like me just buy them for their bits and pieces when they can no longer get free ones and then we are back where we started?

Which seems to suggest that plastic bags in general should be banned.

Payment for plastic bags was introduced here (South Africa) a few years ago because of the old ones being blown about and caught on trees, barbed wire, fences etc. It made a huge difference when you were charged for a plastic bag and most of us now have a bag or bags for life. You can get such colourful and pretty ones in the shops and they don't really cost that much. I am all for a charge if it stops the litter of plastic bags - and it was truly dreadful before the charge.

Here in Australia, most supermarket plastic bags are biodegradable, so by the time they might get blown out to sea, or land in the countryside, they have rotted. The cloth bags from the supermarket cost $1 (50p) so they are quite affordable, plus many organisations give away such bags. I've got a Labour party one, a council one, etc.

In any case, I do most of my supermarket shopping at Aldi, and they don't stock plastic bags: you have to bring your own boxes or bags, buy their cloth bags, or stick the stuff into your car boot unbagged.

I think charging for bags and encouraging shops to give the money to appropriate charities is a good idea. When did we get so disorganised that we can't bring our own bags?

And their food prices won't go down when they start charging for bags, either!

It is really not so difficult to keep a supply of the hard wearing ones and take them shopping with you. Mine tend to live in the car or if you don't have a car put all the multi-use bags inside the biggest bag and still just carry one on your way to the shops. A lot of these litter the countryside and do cause damage to the environment and wildlife, that is one of the big problems.
As for these supermarket bags being free! Do not for moment believe that the supermarkets are not already charging you for them in some way or other.

I have a very capacious nylon/polyester/whatever rollup bag in my handbag. Rolled up it takes hardly any space at all and is so small and soft that a man could easily keep one in a jacket or trouser pocket without it spoiling the shape. There is no excuse for people not taking their own bags to the shops with them these days.

No bags here in Belgium either, it doesn't take you long to remember to carry a bag with you.