5p bag charge - your views

Kim_13

Some staff are as bad as the customers for not getting used to the charge. My mum picked up her bird food to pack it and the bag had a hole in it. She asked for a fruit and veg bag to put it in to stop it from going everywhere (rather than asking them to get her another one without a hole in) and the woman tried to charge her 5p for it! She's never been one to argue the point so she found an old carrier in her bag to use.

Nick_C

ScarletMarble wrote: »

Still some customers that shop at my work still have never bothered to bring their own bags. One dumb blonde said to me she uses our bags as bin liners. Pointed out that our kitchen bin bags are 2.3p each when purchased in packs of 40.

Describing blondes as dumb is as inappropriate as describing supermarket checkout staff as stupid and uneducated.

[Deleted User]

Kim_13 wrote: »

Some staff are as bad as the customers for not getting used to the charge. My mum picked up her bird food to pack it and the bag had a hole in it. She asked for a fruit and veg bag to put it in to stop it from going everywhere (rather than asking them to get her another one without a hole in) and the woman tried to charge her 5p for it! She's never been one to argue the point so she found an old carrier in her bag to use.

A lot of it is down to the shops in question rather than the individual employee. They will drill it into them that they have to charge for every bag just to be on the safe side.

Kim_13

You would think that even if the shop is concerned with being on the safe side, they would tell staff to chop the handles off if common sense dictates that the situation gives need for a bag.

Defra has confirmed that chopping handles off even the standard carriers meets the requirements.

[Deleted User]

LadyDee wrote: »

Really? Always? I don't know where you shop but this member of the older generation was always encouraged to re-use anything that could be re-used and waste nothing. This has been passed on to my daughter. Before the days of plastic bags, we carried a shopping bag when we went shopping, and I have always done so; doubtless thousands upon thousands of my "older" generation do too.

Your generalisation is totally absurd.

I've worked in a supermarket and witnessed it first hand. Not a generalisation at all.

anotheruser

It's a shame the supermarkets don't go the whole hog and get rid of the smaller plastic bags all together.

While I don't like the 5p charge, it's because I am lazy and don't want to bother taking my own bags. Now I've been doing it for months; I don't care.

However the bag for life bags aren't very environment-friendly. They take longer to break down, and take more resources to make. If you re-use a plastic one just once, they are much better than the bag for life bags.

I re-use the plastic ones as household bins around the home. When they've run out, I don't know what I'll use

robin58

Anotheruser, you don't take into account that when the supermarket takes back the bag off of you, they recycle it. This is used into other mixed plastic items.

Plus the old Tesco and Coop ones were biodegradable but had a bad effect on the environment. Plus the recycling plants had to employ people to take these out of the system so they could sell the remaining plastic.

I can show you places near me where tree's are covered in discarded plastic bags.

If by charging 5p, it takes millions of discarded bags out of the environment and stops people taking handfuls to pack there shopping, I'm all for it.

It seems the 5p per bag charge has not had the effect on you as it should. You do realize if you keep on buying them and the government feels the current charge is not effective, they can put it up to where they feel it will have an effect.

anotheruser

robin58 wrote: »

Anotheruser, you don't take into account that when the supermarket takes back the bag off of you, they recycle it. This is used into other mixed plastic items.

That's right, but it doesn't mean they're any better.
Different groups use different statistics; some count the whole process (IE making the bag + recycling the bag = environmental impact) while others count only the first process of making the bag.

robin58 wrote: »

I can show you places near me where tree's are covered in discarded plastic bags.

That's because of people though.
I could show you places near me where crashed cars are taken.

robin58 wrote: »

It seems the 5p per bag charge has not had the effect on you as it should. You do realize if you keep on buying them and the government feels the current charge is not effective, they can put it up to where they feel it will have an effect.

Where does it say I buy them? - I see where you mis-read. To be fair, I didn't explain very well.
I used to get [the plastic bags] when they were free, but since the charge, I switched to the stronger bags (not bag for life) or fabric ones. Now having to take my own doesn't bother me (I don't care about it).

My question still remains - what will I use when the hundreds of plastic bags I have run out? Buy more plastic bags in the form of over-priced "bin liners"? - not exactly solving the problem.

KxMx

I think though that the majority of people were wasteful with free carriers. So even taking into account the people like you (and me) who re-used and will now have to buy bin liners, the net effect may well be positive/a reduction in overall plastics used. Time will tell.

We tried quite a few brands before settling on tidyz handy carrier bags (40) as replacement bin liners, £1 in pound shops or £0.79 if you have a Savers.

Alternatively you use plastic bins with no liner and wash/disinfect after each emptying.

Which is the worse for environment is debatable.

System

Deleted_User wrote: »

I've worked in a supermarket and witnessed it first hand. Not a generalisation at all.

I work in retail. Noticed these people are more likely not to have their own bags:
. Single men - all ages
. Living in council estates. I work opposite one and I wonder why many don't bring their own bags. Is it a kind of pride thing? My Nanan lives near one in Sheffield and countless Sainsburys 5p bags everywhere.
. Young couples