MoneySaving Poll: Do you agree with the 5p charge for carrier bags?

marich

To put a cat amongst these pigeons - by the way this vote has gone you can see the difference in social responsibility between the various 'kingdoms' .

ziggycj

For us it's a bad thing as we did reuse the bags for rubbish and other uses. We still have to dispose of rubbish so will end up buying bin bags which will only get one use (the rubbish). In the end it won't benefit. It would be better if the thick plastic clothes shop bags charges as these can't be use for rubbish after (although we do find other way to use them).

jon81uk

ziggycj wrote: »

For us it's a bad thing as we did reuse the bags for rubbish and other uses. We still have to dispose of rubbish so will end up buying bin bags which will only get one use (the rubbish). In the end it won't benefit. It would be better if the thick plastic clothes shop bags charges as these can't be use for rubbish after (although we do find other way to use them).

All bags will be charged for, including those thick ones for clothes.


We only use a large kitchen bin so buy large black sacks, we only get through one bag every 7-10 days so I don't worry about the cost of the bags.

kathrynha

How many bags do people get through for rubbish?


Recycling rubbish doesn't need a bin bag as it is either paper or has been rinsed before being put in the bin.
Compost doesn't need a bin bag, because it's easier just to take the bin down the garden to empty it then rinse it out.


In our house of 3 people we only fill one small white bin liner a week, yet can have the equivalent of 10 or more supermarket carrier bags of shopping a week.

suzukigirl2009

I think this is a good idea. Way back in the late 1980's when I worked in a small shop we always charged 5p per bag unless the customer was spending £5 or more, then they got the bag for free.

Nick_C

suzukigirl2009 wrote: »

I think this is a good idea. Way back in the late 1980's when I worked in a small shop we always charged 5p per bag unless the customer was spending £5 or more, then they got the bag for free.

Ironically, "small shops" can carry on giving away free carrier bags!

vchidzey

i work in a supermarket, it amazes me how ignorant some people are, they don't bring any bags with them and expect to have given to them, it's not just a few things its whole trolley loads of shopping, so i support charging of carrier bags.
.

rinabean

It's not consumers who generate the horrific plastic waste in this country, it's businesses, particularly big businesses like Tesco who get to now smugly sit and say they're giving 2p to charity. Look carefully in your basket or trolley next time you go shopping - there's probably far more unnecessary plastic in there than the carrier bags you'd use for several shops, perhaps reuse and finally use as bin liners.

Businesses have waste targets so they get around them by wrapping things individually in plastic to protect them (so it goes in our bins and we're the polluters) instead of wrapping the entire box/pallet in much less plastic and having to admit it was them who created that much smaller amount of plastic waste. It's backwards. (Same with food waste. And energy)

I live in England and I've not seen a plastic bag blowing down the street or stuck in a tree for years and there is a lot of other litter here where I live. It's not 5p fines, it's awareness/Bag for Life etc. that's made the change.

happyinflorida

What really peeves me about this charge is that I am now being made to pay for a bag which advertises that store - surely they should pay me? I am very angry over this.

Nick_C

vchidzey wrote: »

i work in a supermarket, it amazes me how ignorant some people are, they don't bring any bags with them and expect to have given to them, it's not just a few things its whole trolley loads of shopping, so i support charging of carrier bags.
.

It amazes you that your customers expect a certain level of service?

Some people seem to think that we should always carry sufficient re-usable bags for everything that we might buy when we are out. I read comments about keeping them in your car or your handbag.

Well I do a lot of impulse shopping. Like most men, I don't use a handbag, and my suit pockets aren't big enough for the bags for life that I do use occasionally. If you are planning a trip to the supermarket by car then yes, its quite easy to take re-usable bags. If you are walking or impulse shopping its not so easy. And driving to the supermarket is not very environmentally friendly! Far better to do more smaller shops on foot on the way home from work.

Since M&S started charging for bags, I buy less from them, In future, I will buy fewer things when impulse shopping, as I object to paying for carrier bags. If I can't carry it without a bag, I won't buy it.

I suppose when I go shopping for clothes, I will have to take a small suitcase; although I tend to do most of my clothes shopping abroad anyway.