Plastic bag latest

LadyDee

Pollycat wrote: »

I refer you to post #85.

I'm talking about smaller bags for life, that are actually worth using more than once.

ripplyuk

When the bag tax first came in here (N.I), I really disliked it. At the start, I just kept forgetting to bring bags and ended up paying for them in every shop. So, I bought some fold up nylon bags to keep with me, but I had to carry a larger handbag to accommodate them. Eventually I got tired of that.

Also, it was a bit of a palaver with these things at the checkout. You have to take each one out of its zipped/Velcro pouch and unfold or unravel them. And then they all have to be neatly folded up again after, or they won't fit.

Now, I buy almost everything online, even small things. It's often cheaper too, even with the p&p cost. The online grocery shopping is great as everything is delivered right to my kitchen so no bags needed, and it only costs £1 so it's cheaper than driving there. I rarely impulse buy anything or go browsing round shops.

The main problem is that I always reused carrier bags for various things. I used them as bin bags and for cleaning out the rabbit hutch. I even used them as padding in parcels. My partner used them for picking up dog poop in the garden. It was only once the tax came in and our bag supply ended that we realised how many things we used them for.

So now we have to buy bags on a roll. Which I'm sure is the same for lots of people.

Redleela

I carry 1 or 2 of these bags from Ikea which are large enough for packing clothes & strong enough for groceries £1.50 if you have a Family Card & last for ages:
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40282314/#/40282823

scottishminnie

bexhill wrote: »

As I see it this niggardly charge is sufficiently offputting sufficient to kill impulse purchases. I'm already fed up with going around shops with my pocket stuffed with plastic bags. Online shopping will be further encouraged by this daft idea and the high street shops will just go.

We've had the charge here for a year now and it was the topic of conversation in the office yesterday. Almost everyone stated that they no longer made any impulse purchases and most owned up to now going shopping with a view to trying things on or deciding exactly what they wanted before ordering online and having them delivered. Quite a few people said they had saved money since it came in as they no longer buy anything unplanned.

It did strike me though that as most said they ordered from stores that had free delivery it would hurt some retailers. I think the example given was one person who shops in Hobbs a lot but now goes in store and tries the clothes before ordering from either JL or HoF as they have free delivery over a certain point.

The main grouse was around the failure of the Scottish government to make it mandatory for retailers to donate the money to charity. I was buying a newspaper in a little store when the customer in front asked which charity the money was benefitting. The shopkeeper laughed and patted his pocket saying it was making him a nice bit extra. I buy my newspaper elsewhere now - may make no difference to his profits but makes me feel better.

Tigsteroonie

Zandoni wrote: »

You don't need an elastic band http://youtu.be/5hao8GmvUW0

Gosh, I've been doing that with empty crisp packets for 30 years - never thought there'd be a practical use!

cherylsurrey

I also now do most of my shopping online, and now, for the first time in years, had to go and buy bin liners for my kitchen waste bin, which I had lined for free for years with the free shopping bags. I had always assumed that's what most people did with them, that and using them to clean up after the dog.


Paying for bags sounds lovely and green, but all it does is get people to buy bin liners instead of using the free bags, so same amount of plastic being used. Pity the government didn't get the shops to stop over packaging their products instead, far more green.

Lord_Baltimore

When I was shopping today I bought a plastic bag for 5p. As it was a new bag and I wanted to keep it in pristine condition, I bought another bag to put it in. Luckily my journey home is through the woods where bears are known to defecate - I'll have a handy spare bag to clean up the mess .

pelirocco

scottishminnie wrote: »

We've had the charge here for a year now and it was the topic of conversation in the office yesterday. Almost everyone stated that they no longer made any impulse purchases and most owned up to now going shopping with a view to trying things on or deciding exactly what they wanted before ordering online and having them delivered. Quite a few people said they had saved money since it came in as they no longer buy anything unplanned.

It did strike me though that as most said they ordered from stores that had free delivery it would hurt some retailers. I think the example given was one person who shops in Hobbs a lot but now goes in store and tries the clothes before ordering from either JL or HoF as they have free delivery over a certain point.

The main grouse was around the failure of the Scottish government to make it mandatory for retailers to donate the money to charity. I was buying a newspaper in a little store when the customer in front asked which charity the money was benefitting. The shopkeeper laughed and patted his pocket saying it was making him a nice bit extra. I buy my newspaper elsewhere now - may make no difference to his profits but makes me feel better.

So you know someone who spends time trying stuff on (which is good ) but then spends more time going home and ordering it online to 'save' 5p ?

And people no longer impulse buy to save 5p....

LadyDee

pelirocco wrote: »

So you know someone who spends time trying stuff on (which is good ) but then spends more time going home and ordering it online to 'save' 5p ?

And people no longer impulse buy to save 5p....

Many. many things are cheaper to buy online so she's probably saving a lot more than 5p.

Pollycat

LadyDee wrote: »

I'm talking about smaller bags for life, that are actually worth using more than once.

I've never seen any 'smaller bags for life' - only the large ones that cost and have cost for years 10p.