Does anyone know what's happening at co-op re carrier bags

Spendless

Our co-op has a sign saying, 'the situation re carrier bags, is from the Government'. It is not the fault of co-op or our cashiers. Please don't give them abuse.

I asked what it meant, and she said they could no longer give carrier bags away. I said I thought the Government said in budget, it would give retailers time to reduce them,(didn't think it meant stop them completely) and if they didn't then they''d take action and the budget was only a couple of months ago. Cashier said it's in now.

Is this correct? Are other places doing same? I know primark were using paper bags the other week.

I've been re-using my bags since beginning of year, but still have the odd blip when I've forgotten:o this will sharpen my mind.

Just wondering if she meant we have to charge from now on, not we don't have any carrier bags anymore.

Filey

At present our Co-op still gives out carrier bags as usual. You need to say if you DON'T want one.

shelley1977

when my son went for me he had to buy a re usable one as they told him there were no more free ones but when i went a few days later they had the free ones at each till.

Quasar

I went into my local Co-op today for a pint of milk, and they had plenty of carrier bags at the checkout.

Anyway a while back I bought one of their cloth bags, and also three jute bags from Sainsbury, but still have zillions of plastic carriers from past years when I wasn't "green" yet. Now I use and re-use them until the handles break, then they become rubbish bin liners.

Spendless

DH went in tonight and said there's no sign and the carrier bags are back.


perhaps I fell into a parallel universe.:eek:

1jim

in ours the carrier bags are now behind the counter and they ask if you want one rather than you just helping yourself, still no charge though as far as I can tell, didt the government just say that shops had to take steps to reduce the usage so this seems a sensible start

Margaret54

Hi everyone, I was in a charity shop a few weeks ago, and was charged 5p as i did not have a carrier bag with me. I did not mind as it was for charity, but in another charity shop the following week the carrier bags were there as usual. It is just a case of remembering to bring your own with you when you go out now.. I try to remember most times, but the odd time i am caught out. Lidl never gave out carrier bags when they first opened over here in N.I. but they had them for sale; small were about 3p bigger 5p, but they have cardboard boxes too sitting for you if you need one, which is fair enough i think. I give the carrier bags i don't need back to the driver in Sainsburys as they tend to give you too many. There can be one item in their bag which is ridiculous, so hopefully they will get better at this. I reuse all my carrier bags i have at home and have bought a few cotton ones and a strong shopping bag from M&S a few years ago which is very handy. We will all get there in time.:cool:

Margaret54

The odd time i am in M&S the staff always ask if you need a carrier bag so they are doing their bit too. I have noticed several of our grocery shops and supermarkets in the town here just keep on giving out loads of carrier bags willy nilly at the end of their checkout.

juno

The Co-op should still have free ones behind the tills if you ask. They should also have plastic Bags For Life (10p) and cotton fairtrade bags (99p). But there have been problems with deliveries, so they might have run out.

It's to encourage people to bring their own bags. You can use any bag of your own that you like - it doens't have to be a Co-op one.

unrich

They are encouraging people to reuse carriers and bring their own.

The sign will be from a poorly informed numpty who has had a gobfull of abuse when they told a customer that they will be stopping giving out carriers at some point in the future.

Savvy_Sue

Margaret54 wrote: »

Hi everyone, I was in a charity shop a few weeks ago, and was charged 5p as i did not have a carrier bag with me. I did not mind as it was for charity, but in another charity shop the following week the carrier bags were there as usual.

One local charity shop has started charging but the rest are still giving them away, so I think it's a decision of the charity, not individual shops, IYSWIM.

Margaret54 wrote: »

I give the carrier bags i don't need back to the driver in Sainsburys as they tend to give you too many. There can be one item in their bag which is ridiculous, so hopefully they will get better at this.

When I was having online deliveries from Tesco I had a moan about this. Apparently it is because they cannot mix different kinds of groceries, eg all fridge stuff in one bag, freezer stuff in another, fresh veg in one, fruit in another and so on. I wonder if it's even more split than that, eg dairy in one bag, meat in another? Certainly cooked meat would have to be kept separate from uncooked meat, wouldn't surprise me if they put each separate piece of uncooked meat in a separate bag to avoid cross-contamination.

Although I would quite happily let my tins share a bag with my biscuits (as long as the biscuits were on top!) their policy says not.