Free Bag for Life - ASDA

Mac11

I was in my local Asda this morning and they announced that for the next 2 weeks they are giving away the Bags for Life for free. They are usually 5p.

BruceyBonus

Our store did these about a month ago. We got loads of bags although several of the assistants said they'd heard rumours Asda may soon be stopping free carrier bags (hence the free bags for life). Not sure how true this is?

Dr.Who-Who

BruceyBonus wrote: »

Asda may soon be stopping free carrier bags (hence the free bags for life). Not sure how true this is?

Yes, it is true & about time as well. I hate seeing ppl taking the carrier bags every time they shopped. I always take my own cotton bags to every shop & I always declined when they offer me their free bag.

They will follow for the likes of M&S, take the free bag for life now or pay for it when the offer ended. I think my asda will be offering the free bags for life for a month starting today after that it will be 5p per bag.

Chick2organise

oh dont get me started on this about the carrier bags....... its great that they are giving away the bags for life for free HOWEVER its a very big HOWEVER, for those of us who reuse our bags for rubbish (very money saving) what are we going to do now???

Sainsburys tried this and they lost customers and they returned to giving free good old fashioned carrier bags!!!

Marks and Spencers - well people who do their food shopping in there can afford the 5p on a carrier bag or a bag for life!!

I was speaking to the cashier today in Asdas and she was saying how she thinks its wrong that they are cutting the original carrier bag as, which is a very good point, look at the big plastic packaging for the one cake....

I pointed out that most of Asdas food packaging isnt recyclable - and to aswer your question.... she said its just a trial to try and get people into the habit of remembering to take their bag for life in......

It will cost them far too much to keep supplying people with a 5p bag.... lets be honest..... especially when how many people dont take the bags with them...

I do it out of protest cause i use the carrier bags!!!!!!! if Asdas make ALL their packaging recyclable then ill start remembering the bag for life and ill buy bin bags.... until that day i wont!!!!!!!

cardiff2007

Yes i work in Asda and it's just a 2 week trial period at the moment, i can see the carrier bags being scrapped soon most people bring there own in now anyway. The only problem we find is on the self service where people are just rushing through the machines don't really cater for people with there own bags as soon as they put there own bags down it brings up an error message which is a pain, saying that the Asda bags for life are pretty cheap at 5p anyway as most of the stores are charging 10p .

squeaky

And what are they going to do about the bags they use for home deliveries? In every delivery I've had there have been at least two bags that have only had ONE item in. I'd NEVER pack like that if I was in the store!

The_Old_Bag

Here here Chick2organise.

I have not bought any rubbish bags for over 20 years.
I always use carrier bags.

Although Tescos biodegradable bags may be good for the environment, they are pretty useless for re-cycling and using again for your shopping - they dis-intergrate after a few uses - if you are lucky!!

Cotton/hemp/material bags are all very well, but although I have 3 or 4 of these, they are all pathetically small.

I also agree with Cardiff2007. I usually always take my bags into shops when I intend to doing shopping, but what happens when I pop in for a paper ( for the coupons or freebies ) and then end up spending £5 on "bits and bobs". Charging for bags will probably make me think twice about impulse shopping if I haven't got a bag with me.

I have tried squashing a couple of spare carriers into pockets in my hand bag, for just such an emergency, but then forget to replace them - plus I end up carrying a handbag round the size of a small suitcase to get all this type of "essentials" in.

Just a thought, is everyones issue with supermarket bags the fact they are plastic ?
How come on the TV and in Films, our American cousins always seem to have their shopping in strong paper 'sacks' ?
If they can cope with environmentally friendly paper products, why do UK stores not give them a trial run here. The US are always portrayed as even bigger shoppers/consumers than the UK, so I assume their paper sacks are fit for purpose !
This would also then solve 'squeaky' and the home delivery issue.
Does anyone in the Supermarket hierarchy ( or even product designers) know why the uk does not copy the US in this? we seem to follow them like sheep in all their bad habits

likestosavemoney

we have to pay for the bags, 5p.
its actually really annoying because we use our carrier bags for the bins around the house etc.
but i do see the point. it forces(in a good way) people to bring their own reusable bags, helping the environment etc etc.
it wouldnt actually make me not want to go to asda.

oh well. it's all about being eco-friendly

marvin

I still strugle to understand how swapping from a thin plastic bag to a thick plastic bag helps the enviroment. What needs to happen is that the bags used by the supermarkets are either fully recyclable or fully biodegradable.

If you always remember you other bags good for you I never can (or rarely do and reminders by the till no use) then what do I do if they have no other bags? I would have millions of bags for life I don't need and can't use for any other purpose.

I also use carriers for bins and other things so should I buy plastic bin bags for this? seems to me that by trying to solve a problem you create another.

BTW to my knowledge Sainsburys have never stopped giving out plastic bags this was something ASDA IIRC. Sainsburys did stop and still do not display the bags but will give them if asked for them.

LittleVoice

The_Old_Bag wrote: »

Here here Chick2organise.
How come on the TV and in Films, our American cousins always seem to have their shopping in strong paper 'sacks' ?

Years ago (1970s), Safeways (remember them?), used to supply the small brown paper sacks. No handles for carrying, of course, but they did get used as acceptable vacuum cleaner bags too.

likestosavemoney

how about the brown paper takeaway bags you can get but larger, or paper bags you get when you buy clothes in certain shops, e.g selfridges but without the ink (more eco-friendly)
and then use the cotton bags for heavy things, e.g drinks, fabric conditoner etc.

i get really annoyed when i go in to clothes shops(e.g primark) and they give me these massive plastic bags when they could have easily given me a paper one and its hard to reuse the primark plastic bags as they are weird shapes so dont fit in dustbins properly.