Carrier bag challenge

kittyscarlett

Our city was supposed to be going " plastic bag free ", there was lots of publicity and hoo ha about it but sod-all effort in the shops by the looks of it. There are a few shops who don't have carrier bags out to take and ask if you want any, Waitrose have a community charity donation scheme for people who bring their own bags, they give you tokens that can be given to support a local charity. I have no idea what the local Sainsburys' do as I haven't been in there in months, and you couldn't pay me enough money to go into Tesco's or ASDA's, haven't shopped in either for years.

For years I have taken my own bags and rarely have to get extra carriers. I use a backpack for bigger shopping plus a Bag for Life, and I have a couple of linen shopping bags and even a good old fashioned basket for the very local shops. Yes, if I have to get carriers for whatever reason then I will always re use them in one way or another, but for people to carelessly grab loads of them time after time and excuse it by saying " oh its free innit " without thinking about the environmental impact is just selfish.

Pennylane

I have been using my own bags for several years, a variety of coolbags, store Bags for Life and PVC/cotton shoppers. A few years ago Safeway did those big green boxes and I had loads of those and the smaller green ones too. I still use those on occasions. I'm talking about my main shopping trips.

There are occasions when you go out somewhere not necessarily to shop but you do browse and then buy something!;) If you bought stuff in charity shops, garden centres, chemists, pet shops etc they gave you a bag. Some shops preferred to give you a bag because they were more confident that a person had actually PAID for their goods.

I think it is going a bit far now when you can't actually get one if you are desperate!! :rolleyes: Occasionally I'm out and see some frozen food on special offer which I know my elderly Mum would appreciate. I have a fairly long drive to take it to her & I would like a plastic bag but no chance! On day I asked for anything to protect it a little bit, just a clear plastic bag would help a bit, but no. A lot of the shops here are charging for plastic bags now and say they are giving the money to charity.

I am really missing plastic carrier bags though. They were SO useful and I never, ever threw one away unless it was ripped to shreds. They had 101 uses and my little kitchen plaggybag storing lady is positively annorexic now!!:p

Pennylane

I forgot to say I was at Morrison's this morning and there were loads of free plastic bags.

Jorgan_2

We purchased a number of bags for life while on holiday in France about six years ago, from memory it was the only bags available on the checkout. Started using them when we got home as it made a lot of sense.

geordie_joe

JoolzS wrote: »

Strangely enough I've never considered the plastic bags from the supermarkets as being "free". Anyone who thinks they are free has to be a complete idiot.

Julie

Free as in you don't pay extra for them when you are packing your shopping. We all know the shops add money onto other items to pay for the bags!

On the other side, I consider anyone who doesn't use these bags, which they have paid for, to be a complete idiot too!

If they were selling beans at bogof you wouldn't just take one tin would you, even though you know they have added extra onto the cost of other items to pay for the free one?

kittyscarlett

Pennylane wrote: »

. Some shops preferred to give you a bag because they were more confident that a person had actually PAID for their goods.

Yes, I hit this attitude in shops years ago when I first started saying " no bag thanks ". I pointed out then as I would now, if you give me a receipt than that is more than adequate legal proof of my purchase.

Pennylane wrote: »

.I think it is going a bit far now when you can't actually get one if you are desperate!! :rolleyes: Occasionally I'm out and see some frozen food on special offer which I know my elderly Mum would appreciate. I have a fairly long drive to take it to her & I would like a plastic bag but no chance!

Well, surely it would not be too much bother to carry a Bag for Life ( the plastic kind ) about with you, or maybe a coolbag or two if you have a car ?

flissh

When I was a kid, (not that long ago!) nothing was in plastic bags. The green grocer weighed the fruit and veg, then would just tip it into your shopping bag. The butcher wrapped everything in white paper. I used to get this to draw on when my mum had put the shopping away. What a treat that was, lol. In those days, cling film had hardly been invented, all our stuff was in the fridge or larder, unwrapped. No asthma, allergies, etc, and we all grew up okay.... happy days.