BAS wins! (B&Q to close 60 stores)

[JBR]

AFAIK, there is a surcharge (5p) on plastic bags in Scotland, Wales, NI and Eire but not yet in England (I believe it may come in under plans after the next election in May)

Round here too. The other day I was at one of those hopeless self-service tills and I asked the woman-in-charge-for-when-the-tills-break-down if they have any bags. "Yes", she said, "5p each". So I left carrying the loose items.

It's not the money; although a tight-fisted Yorkie, I can run to 5p. It's the principle. I can't stand being dictated to by unelected foreigners. The sooner we're free, the better. Vote UKIP.

 

[Belboz]

AFAIK, in England there are some supermarkets who charge but they are not BOUND to yet by English legislation (unlike Scotland,Wales,NI and Eire)

My local Sainsbury's, for instance, don't charge for plastic bags [albeit the bags they now offer are about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike]

Wonder how it will affect home deliveries if they do bring it in?

B

 

[EddieM]

£2.60 for two 15mm york elbows. (Only needed one)

Local plumbers 40p each.

No brainer really.

It's not really though. If you want one out of trade hours what ya gonna do?

Plan your work properly ??

B&Q is crap for timber (although it competes hard with homebase there) its tool selection is rubbish, the electrical / plumbing sections are a joke and the ironmongery is beyond belief. Don't even think screwfix is all that anymore.

If you want a bathroom / kitchen then you're possibly in luck... but that's probably coz those are subcontracted.

Their garden section is good for dead / dying plants.

 

[JBR]

If you want a bathroom / kitchen then you're possibly in luck... but that's probably coz those are subcontracted.

Ten years ago we had a bathroom re-fitted by B&Q, or one of their sub-contractors, and they did a right good job. The only problem now is that the shower needs to be turned off very tightly to avoid dripping, but I suppose nothing lasts for ever.

 

[longdogs]

So it's a bad thing to receive a free plastic bag, chuck it in the sea and choke a turtle, but if you pay 5p for it, it's ok?

 

[JBR]

So it's a bad thing to receive a free plastic bag, chuck it in the sea and choke a turtle, but if you pay 5p for it, it's ok?

We re-use them for taking rubbish out to the bins. What happens after that is down to the council. They have plenty of income from our council tax to dispose of them properly.

 

[longdogs]

So it's a bad thing to receive a free plastic bag, chuck it in the sea and choke a turtle, but if you pay 5p for it, it's ok?

We re-use them for taking rubbish out to the bins. What happens after that is down to the council. They have plenty of income from our council tax to dispose of them properly.

That's exactly what we do with them so how they get from my rubbish bin into a turtle's mouth is a mystery. It's terrible that our cr*p gets dumped in the sea and affects the wildlife but it makes you wonder if other countries have this obsession with charging for carrier bags. I doubt if China is bothered.

 

[Belboz]

The issue with plastic carrier bags is essentially twofold viz.

(1) The bags take forever to decompose meaning that they are amongst the last bits of rubbish in landfill to disappear. I am sure most of us use these bags to fill with rubbish and then bung it in the bin. These filled bags end up in landfill but, whilst much of the rubbish inside will decompose quite quickly, the bags themselves will take an age.

(2) The wildlife aspect refers to empty plastic bags which we see across our towns and cities. The ones blowing about in the wind and floating in the ponds and rivers. Of course, in coastal areas, these will float out to sea or be carried there by the wind.

The idea of the surcharge is to try to make people RE-USE the plastic bags thereby reducing the total amount in the enviroment. Apparently, Wales has seen a 90% reduction since the surcharge was brought in.

I applaud the environmental reasons but I have to say that the way forward is not via this surcharge but by HMG forcing manufacturers and retailers to make/use biodegradable bags.

The reason I say this is, from a personal point of view, I will end up with fewer carrier bags when I have to pay for them so I will cease using them for rubbish and start using cheap black bags or cheap bin liners - both of which are made of the same or similar plastic and which, accordingly, remain a biodegradable issue.

 

[wobs]

That's exactly what we do with them so how they get from my rubbish bin into a turtle's mouth is a mystery. It's terrible that our cr*p gets dumped in the sea and affects the wildlife but it makes you wonder if other countries have this obsession with charging for carrier bags. I doubt if China is bothered.

Ahem:

"In 2002, Bangladesh became the first country in the world to ban thinner plastic bags after they were found to have choked the drainage system during devastating floods.

Other countries including South Africa, Rwanda, China, Australia and Italy followed suit"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24090603

 

[JBR]

Don't the Yanks use large, thick paper bags for their groceries? That's what I've seen on the films anyway.
They would biodegrade quickly and therefore would be free!

Of course, I'm assuming the EU mandarins are equipped with common sense.

 

[longdogs]

That's exactly what we do with them so how they get from my rubbish bin into a turtle's mouth is a mystery. It's terrible that our cr*p gets dumped in the sea and affects the wildlife but it makes you wonder if other countries have this obsession with charging for carrier bags. I doubt if China is bothered.

Ahem:

"In 2002, Bangladesh became the first country in the world to ban thinner plastic bags after they were found to have choked the drainage system during devastating floods.

Other countries including South Africa, Rwanda, China, Australia and Italy followed suit"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24090603[/QUOTE]

Well that's good that other countries are interested but the end result is we get charged 5p for ridiculously thin bags, whereas the mentioned countries have changed to thicker ones and it doesn't say whether they have to pay. If Clagg is serious about plastic pollution, he should ban the f*ckers not charge for them.

 

[Dextraneous]

Simple solution is for shops not to provide bags at all. This is the case in France I think, and you only make the mistake of not taking one with you once.

 

[conny]

I'm at that age where I remember shops never provided bags!

If you went shopping you took your own bags, be they canvas, string or basket type. The only time the shop provided you with a bag was when you were buying loose items such as tea, sugar or eggs and then the bag was made from paper. This could then be used towards lighting the coal fire or storing something else in when it was empty. And of course, if was dumped in the ground, it quickly decomposed.

 

[wobs]

Don't the Yanks use large, thick paper bags for their groceries? That's what I've seen on the films anyway.
They would biodegrade quickly and therefore would be free!

Of course, I'm assuming the EU mandarins are equipped with common sense.

Ikea provides (or used to) similar paper bags. The only problem is that they take up more space in the lorry that delivers them and have a larger carbon footprint overall, (more lorry trips etc).

Whether that is worse than plastic bags polluting the environment is a debatable point.

 

[EddieM]

Don't the Yanks use large, thick paper bags for their groceries? That's what I've seen on the films anyway.
They would biodegrade quickly and therefore would be free!

Of course, I'm assuming the EU mandarins are equipped with common sense.

Trouble is they aqua degrade in the uk before you can get to your car. Bio-degradable "plastic" bags have been around for ages.