Free Bag for Life - ASDA

Helix

Chick2organise wrote: »

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

Er no they didn't they have never started charging for bags. They have had a couple of Make The Difference days where they gave free bags for life in place of the normal bags but thats it. They haven't changed anything due to losing customers.

austin

marvin wrote: »

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.

i think youre right. the BFL are a good idea if people actually re-use them. they are no good if people are going to adopt the same attitude as they do with conventional carrier bags. my idea would be a 'tough titty' approach one day the government should outlaw carrier bags. people will soon learn to adapt.

JoolzS

I'm beginning to find these carrier bag threads incredibly amusing. I had absolutely no idea that so many fellow british people were so entrenched in their own little worlds.

Why are so many people bothered that free carrier bags might no longer be available? It's not as though it has been forced upon us overnight. The supermarkets were told quite a while ago that they had to stop us using so many carrier bags so they are now doing what they were told. I find it rather satisfying that, for once, the supermarkets are having to give in to the government, rather than it being the other way around.

I rarely shop, and even more rarely shop in supermarkets (I tend to leave shopping to my DH), but when I do shop I try to remember to take bags with me. I've been doing this for a decade or so. Every now and then I forget the bags, or I shop on impulse and I then have no problem paying a pittance for a bag. If paying a pittance for a bag was a problem for me, then I'd make sure I never left the house without one.

I'd be happy if the supermarkets decided once and for all to stop giving away any carrier bags - it would remove any confusion. I also think they should stop charging a measly 5p or 10p for the stronger bags - 50p or £1.00 per bag would stop nearly everyone from forgetting to take a bag out with them, including me.

Julie

roddydogs

So people will be stocking up with loads of "Bags for life"?

Busterollie

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' ?
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 !

We visited relatives in the US last year and my SIL took us to Walmart & Target so we could bring back Oreo's, Hershey's chocolate, etc and in both of these supermarkets they gave out plastic bags! We still have some now! When I do my weekly shopping I always take any recycling - bottles,papers,etc in a large Sainsburys bag (doesn't matter which supermarket I'm going to!) and then reuse my bag for my shopping. It also stops me buying too much as I don't want to get another bag at the till.

DaveW007

On the subject of plastic carrier bags etc. My local council give out black plastic bags for refuse!!! Surely it will be more economical and better for the environment to have wheelie bins?

Leeds88

I work in an Asda store that got rid of the free carrier bags as a trial. Most customers took the change well but there were many complaints which is why the store brought back the free carrier bags. The idea to bring back the free carrier bags was just days after every other Asda store had been told a date as to which they would be getting rid of the free carrier bags which is now unlikely to happen.
One of the problems with not having the free carrier bags on the checkouts was that people were taking a whole pack of them from self scan. This wouldn't be minded so much but those carriers are specially designed to fit the self scan checkouts but due to being unable to adapt the software on the self scan checkouts, they couldn't get rid of the free carriers.
Before the current free bag for life trial, we had the free carrier bags back after supposedly getting rid of them for good but we were made to hide them under the checkouts and only offer them to the customer as a last resort if they didn't wish to buy bags for life which should be the same with every Asda store after the trial.
As well as working for Asda, I am a customer and do not have a problem with buying more bags for life if I forget my own but this could be due to the amount of hassle I got from customers when we didn't have the free carrier bags at all.
After the free bags for life trial, the free carrier bags should still be available as a lest resort but don't take your agression about the carrier bags on the checkout staff like poor little me as we've got the worst end of the bargain from having to tell customers that free carrier bags aren't available and getting customers being arguementative that they do not want to buy carrier bags to now having the free carrier bags back and having customers complain that they were forced to buy bags for life when they did not want to. Only having bags for life or free carrier bags as a last resort isn't our decision so if you do have any complaints, don't take it out on the checkout staff, take it up with Asda's Head Office as it's them who make all the decisions and mass everybody about.

Sorry to have ranted on for so long in my first post but I thought ou'd want to know the full story of whats gone on!!! hope I've been as informative as possible.

li'l_p

The only thing I find with reusable type bags is that they tend to be HUGE! I prefer to have my shopping in smaller managable bags for ease of carrying, hence the reason I think a lot of people prefer standard carrier bags - the handles are not so big that the bag drags on the floor and you can manage your shopping. I loaded one of those hessian bags up and I just couldn't lift it - it's no surprise that people don't use them! Even the BFL are huge - it's ridiculous!

lorweld

In Ireland we have to pay a carrier bag 'tax' of 22¢ for the past few years. It does take a lot of getting used to I still forget to bring my bag with me on occasions if I do I ask for a cardboard box to carry my shopping in. Primark & other clothes shops give out paper bags now.

Apart from the obvious environmental benefits, I've noticed there are very few carrier bags threw around the streets or blown into trees anymore.

buxtonrabbitgreen

If I know I am going to do a big shop I take my bags with me. But working in a supermarket makes me more likely than most to impulse buy. This is getting a bit expensive, as I feel I should set a good example, and end up buying yet another bfl.
We are not supposed to offer carrier bags, but give them if people ask for them. But I notice more and more that customers are bringing their own bags, or managing without if it is only a few items.