One thing I have noticed is that sainsburys at least have started using much thicker bags "5p bag for life" since the charge was introduced. So people who don't bring their own bags will end up generating a lot more plastic waste.
As a supermarket employee, can I interject with some facts!
I recently (pre-bag charge) was seconded to a convenience store in a very rough area of Sheffield, and people would ask for a bag for a packet of cigarettes. This was irritating to say the least. For these people, I welcome the charge with open arms. They will no longer ask for a bag to satisfy their pathetic laziness.
Myself and my partner always take our bags for life to the supermarket, and buy rolls of cheap bags for the bathroom bin and the kitchen bin - the problem with carrier bags is they usually have holes in them. No good for containing kitchen waste and messy nappies etc, and we have to use bags or else the wheelie would get awfully smelly and messy.
If anyone comes on here exhalting the glory of PAPER BAGS, I shall shoot you down in flames before you start. Paper bags weigh 20 times what a plastic bag weighs, and takes up probably the same ratio of space. Consequently they cost much, much more to produce and transport to store. They also aren't as durable as plastic bags - the handles will simply snap and tear without warning, whereas plastic stretches. I would tax paper bags at 20p each - stop Primark's supposed eco-rampage dead in its tracks. Morons. Yes paper bags won't kill a whale and do decompose much faster, but the ecological impact of manufacture and transport in my opinion far outweighs this.
Reaction from customers to the charge in my store (a petrol station) has been relatively non-extreme. The problem we have is nobody brings a bag4life to a petrol station. Many of our other stores have reported baskets going missing as customers resort to using them to carry shopping home to avoid any bag charges.
I recently (pre-bag charge) was seconded to a convenience store in a very rough area of Sheffield, and people would ask for a bag for a packet of cigarettes. This was irritating to say the least. For these people, I welcome the charge with open arms. They will no longer ask for a bag to satisfy their pathetic laziness.
Myself and my partner always take our bags for life to the supermarket, and buy rolls of cheap bags for the bathroom bin and the kitchen bin - the problem with carrier bags is they usually have holes in them. No good for containing kitchen waste and messy nappies etc, and we have to use bags or else the wheelie would get awfully smelly and messy.
If anyone comes on here exhalting the glory of PAPER BAGS, I shall shoot you down in flames before you start. Paper bags weigh 20 times what a plastic bag weighs, and takes up probably the same ratio of space. Consequently they cost much, much more to produce and transport to store. They also aren't as durable as plastic bags - the handles will simply snap and tear without warning, whereas plastic stretches. I would tax paper bags at 20p each - stop Primark's supposed eco-rampage dead in its tracks. Morons. Yes paper bags won't kill a whale and do decompose much faster, but the ecological impact of manufacture and transport in my opinion far outweighs this.
Reaction from customers to the charge in my store (a petrol station) has been relatively non-extreme. The problem we have is nobody brings a bag4life to a petrol station. Many of our other stores have reported baskets going missing as customers resort to using them to carry shopping home to avoid any bag charges.
Each one must be equivalent to several carrier bags.
You could buy reusable nappies.
A Nappy for life.
L
longdogs
Having just moved to a different county, I am amazed at the lack of recycling available. I can take cardboard, plastic bottles, plastic bags, tin foil etc etc to my local centre where it will be recycled (and they will look inside each bag), but the same waste collected by the dustmen goes into the landfill bin, even though it is then taken to the same recycling centre.
Until councils, manufacturers, packaging designers, cruise ships and every other country in the world change their ways, I can't really see what difference my plastic bags will make. I have never thrown a bag into the sea so I don't understand how it may have got there. Because someone else hasn't taken responsibility for their rubbish, I have to pay 5p a bag.
Until councils, manufacturers, packaging designers, cruise ships and every other country in the world change their ways, I can't really see what difference my plastic bags will make. I have never thrown a bag into the sea so I don't understand how it may have got there. Because someone else hasn't taken responsibility for their rubbish, I have to pay 5p a bag.
I just wonder how long it will be before all this eco-nonsense disappears into oblivion.
Much of it doesn't do any actual good: plastic bags/plastic bin bags, windmills, and all the other expensive inconveniences we have to put up with, whilst China uses coal to produce 2/3 of its total energy requirements and the USA 2/5.
If my plastic bags are 'killing the planet', good luck to them.
Much of it doesn't do any actual good: plastic bags/plastic bin bags, windmills, and all the other expensive inconveniences we have to put up with, whilst China uses coal to produce 2/3 of its total energy requirements and the USA 2/5.
If my plastic bags are 'killing the planet', good luck to them.
Besides , what are you going to carry your 100 watt incandescents home in?
The cost of the 'Free' plastic bags are already costed into the price of your shopping. They are NOT free.
Now you have to pay 5p for a bag but there are circumstances where you should not be charged for them. The full criteria is on the government website but basically, you can have a bag with no charge if you have bought fresh meat, fish or anything WHICH YOU CONSIDER, is a spill or contaminant risk. Fresh meat can include such things as chicken from a chiller cabinet which is usually wrapped in thin cling film type plastic. If you are buying foodstuffs such as bread, cakes etc and you have bought a bottle of bleach, washing up liquid or disinfectant etc you should be given a separate bag free of charge.
Read the governments rules carefully and print them out. Then when challenged you can show the store what the law actually says.
As an aside, I have heard that Sainsburys will charge for the bags but will NOT donate the money to charity as this is a merely a gesture and not a law. Also those who are donating the money will remove the VAT element first so any charity will not get the full 5p
Now you have to pay 5p for a bag but there are circumstances where you should not be charged for them. The full criteria is on the government website but basically, you can have a bag with no charge if you have bought fresh meat, fish or anything WHICH YOU CONSIDER, is a spill or contaminant risk. Fresh meat can include such things as chicken from a chiller cabinet which is usually wrapped in thin cling film type plastic. If you are buying foodstuffs such as bread, cakes etc and you have bought a bottle of bleach, washing up liquid or disinfectant etc you should be given a separate bag free of charge.
Read the governments rules carefully and print them out. Then when challenged you can show the store what the law actually says.
As an aside, I have heard that Sainsburys will charge for the bags but will NOT donate the money to charity as this is a merely a gesture and not a law. Also those who are donating the money will remove the VAT element first so any charity will not get the full 5p
Good! There should be compulsory life imprisonment for anybody found doing their weekly shop whilst leaving a vehicle at the pump!
I agree, although some petrol stations have separate parking areas for shoppers or for the less brain-dead motorists to move their cars once they've filled up.
Good! There should be compulsory life imprisonment for anybody found doing their weekly shop whilst leaving a vehicle at the pump!
Having said that, people who do a weekly shop at a petrol station are almost certainly brain-dead or have more money than sense.
L
longdogs
Yes, how annoying is that! I know it's really handy being able to buy some shopping at a garage but when there's a long queue at the pumps and others are swanning around buying bags of salad..Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! I remember once getting stuck in a queue at a garage for about twenty minutes because someone had parked their vehicle in just the wrong spot preventing others from getting out of either the exit or the entrance. Eventually, the manager went to find the driver who was blissfully unaware sitting at a counter having coffee and cake.
Had to buy a bag today at one of the big stores but turned it inside out first so I wasn't advertising their name.
Had to buy a bag today at one of the big stores but turned it inside out first so I wasn't advertising their name.
Good idea.
I'm going to stick my neck out and predict that this latest government codswallop might just quietly disappear before too long.
You heard it here first!
"The problem we have is nobody brings a bag4life to a petrol station."
I am pretty sure that most of the people coming to a petrol station have door pockets, glovebox and boot. any of these is capable of holding numerous bags.
Once they find out that you can put a bag in a car, they will start saving money.
I am pretty sure that most of the people coming to a petrol station have door pockets, glovebox and boot. any of these is capable of holding numerous bags.
Once they find out that you can put a bag in a car, they will start saving money.
I'm all for reducing unnecessary packaging. Perhaps supermarkets could help further by reducing the plastic packaging for so many items. For example, if I want to go any buy a kilo (you see how European I'm becoming with my units of measurement!!) of rice or sugar or flour or bombay mix or peanuts or some such thing, then why not allow me to take an appropriate container of my own up to a hopper and press a button which then dispenses it? Same sort of thing for olive oil, water, fruit juice etc.
With a bit of imagination this could be set up for a fair few goods. Plus the fact that I'm going to turn up with containers means that I'm more likely to carry them in a bag to the shop in the first place, so won't need to buy one on my way out.
With a bit of imagination this could be set up for a fair few goods. Plus the fact that I'm going to turn up with containers means that I'm more likely to carry them in a bag to the shop in the first place, so won't need to buy one on my way out.
They don't mind you buying them. See the flaw?
Yep. But as the idea is presumably to reduce litter, then I'm more likely to remember to take one in. I've got several bags for life in the boot, but have gone into stores countless times forgetting to take one in with me and simply can't be ar$ed to go back to the car mid-shop or at the check out to get one.