Lack of publicity over England's shops charging 5p a bag

LilElvis

custardy wrote: »

and yet not in Scotland?

The Scots must be made of hardier stuff - maybe it's the Irnbru.

gayleygoo

Here in N.Ireland, I think people got used to the bag charge fairly quickly, now you either bring your own bags or pay if you need one. Carrier bags account for a bare fraction of landfill rubbish, but the policy does encourage people to think about whether they really do need a plastic bag. Our local shops used to use bags unnecessarily - if you only bought a can of coke or a newspaper, you got a bag. The assistant would hand the children their Freddo bar or whatever in their own bag each. Now if my kids want to carry their purchases, they bring their own bags (and I can put my stuff in them too ). If you buy plants with soil, raw meat, or takeaway food you don't get charged.

It's gone up to 11p here now. For people who might struggle to pay the small fee, they could look into making their own bags from old pillowcases, sheets or t-shirts etc. Most shops will provide a box free of charge if they can, if you prefer. Heck, you could bring your wheeley suitcase to the supermarket and just pull the shopping home instead of having to carry it!

I use carrier bags in my bin too, but I don't have to buy very many. You can reuse other plastic bags from packaging etc to use in the bin. My granny always used a few sheets of newspaper or a cereal box! It also raises the question that if bins are getting very smelly, are we throwing away too much food?

teddysmum

Torry_Quine wrote: »

Although I have a bag in my kitchen bin not all my rubbish is wrapped before going into the wheelie bin and don't see the need! Why would it be unhygienic as it isn't handled by anyone?:j

There is no problem with clean empty containers, but food waste , which would have been contained in a bag, could adhere to the bin and so rot. Unwrapped food waste or food soiled containers would be more readily accessed by insects, known spreaders of disease.


There is also more likelihood of bad smells, which would have been contained within a tied plastic bag.

MacMickster

The-Truth wrote: »

Can you provide a creditable link for this. There's just something about this that makes me doubt.

I regard this research paper by the University of Pennsylvania as pretty credible.

http://blogs.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/SSRN-id2196481.pdf

Recently, many jurisdictions have implemented bans or imposed taxes upon plastic grocery bags on environmental grounds. San Francisco County was the first major US jurisdiction to enact such a regulation, implementing a ban in 2007. There is evidence, however, that reusable grocery bags, a common substitute for plastic bags, contain potentially harmful bacteria. We
examine emergency room admissions related to these bacteria in the wake of the San Francisco ban. We find that ER visits spiked when the ban went into effect. Relative to other counties, ER admissions increase by at least one fourth, and deaths exhibit a similar increase.

enfield_freddy

ER admissions increase by at least one fourth


wrote a skilled blogger

cherry_k

hi anyone ever thought if the latest bio-degradeable carrier bags are doing so much damage, how much more so will the bags for life be to get rid of, cherry k

MacMickster

enfield_freddy wrote: »

ER admissions increase by at least one fourth


wrote a skilled blogger

I suggest that you follow the link and then decide whether it is a proper academic research paper or just the work of a "skilled blogger"

Nilrem

I only found out about the charge by overhearing it mentioned at the local supermarket.

I've not seen any signs, heard anything on the TV or radio before that.

I'm probably going to try the old Safeways boxes (anyone remember them?) that were trialled for a year or so back in the late 90's for larger shopping trips (I already use them for Aldi), although I wonder how the security guards will like people pushing a trolley full of shopping out the store

I did try one of the boxes in the current trolleys but they don't fit any more (I think they were originally designed to fit neatly in the old Safeways trolley).

mije1983

I noticed my local Argos had A4 size signs near the tills today. Didn't see anything when I went to Sainsburys though.

Takeaway_Addict

peter_the_piper wrote: »

It does not stop small businesses from charging if they want to so don't be surprised if they do. Why not anyway?

Because it makes you ever so slightly more attractive as a shopping option. The point is why bother if you don't have to?