Green or not should we pay for carrier bags?.

Badger

Had my Home delivery monthly shop today from Waitrose and decided to take it Carrier bag free.

Have been saving up my carrier bags now for the last six months so have loads,a good move IMHO

In the current Enviro climate what are your thoughts on this matter,would you be happy to recyle your bags or should the Supermarkets continue to give out bags free, if not how much would you be prepared to pay.

just as an after thought many years ago supermarkets always charged for carrier bags and as a kid we also used to get MONEY back on bottles.

nolly

in the 80s bags were 5p each.

Badger

Exactly nolly, and in the 70's we also used to collect up all the empty bottles we could find and shove 'em into a watneys wooden crate and get a deposit back on them and buy some sweets... result guv.

nolly

r whites lemonade

LenGlover

we already pay for carrier bags as part of the cost of the produce and profit thereon.

If you are asking should we pay more for carrier bags then I would say no.

pickwick

If the bags are charged at 10p each and it is uniform then that is OK, our decision to throw them away or not.

vancouveraddick

[cite]Posted By: LenGlover[/cite]we already pay for carrier bags as part of the cost of the produce and profit thereon.

If you are asking should we pay more for carrier bags then I would say no.

Do you think it's reasonable to pay more council tax because people continue to throw away things that can be reused thus meaning having to use up more space for landfill, which in turn costs local councils money?

StanmoreAddick

definately. but not to bolster the profits of the supermarkets.

Maybe a green tax on supermarkets and larger retailers for each they bag they supply which they then can choose to pass on????

Not a good example as i live alone but i haven't taken a retailers plastic bag for ages, i use my reusable IKEA bag that stays in my car

leftbehind

I dont mind paying i try and use old bags

Rothko

As they do in Ireland, cross the board 10p on each bag

InspectorSands

Definitely.

And while we're at it, tax takeaway chicken-in-a-box as well.

StanmoreAddick

[cite]Posted By: InspectorSands[/cite] And while we're at it, tax takeaway chicken-in-a-box as well.

Well that's another tax i wouldn't pay then..

InspectorSands

[cite]Posted By: StanmoreAddick[/cite]

[cite]Posted By: InspectorSands[/cite]And while we're at it, tax takeaway chicken-in-a-box as well.

Well that's another tax i wouldn't pay then..

See, it's simple, this politics lark, isn't it? ;-)

Seriously, the plastic bag thing is an utter no-brainer.

Actually, M&S are slowly bringing in 5p charges for their plastic bags.

Medders

Used to shop at Safeway a few years ago, and they started doing the self-scan stuff and instead of bags you had plastic boxes. The boxes cost a few quid in the first place but you re-used them. Worked well I thought, and did away with the need for carrier bags. Then it seemed to stop....

Charlton Dan

Why not do what the US supermarkets do and use paper bags? They're recyclable after all....

Charlton Dan

[cite]Posted By: Medders[/cite]Used to shop at Safeway a few years ago, and they started doing the self-scan stuff and instead of bags you had plastic boxes. The boxes cost a few quid in the first place but you re-used them. Worked well I thought, and did away with the need for carrier bags. Then it seemed to stop....

Supermarkets used to provide their old fruit boxes for you to use. They cant do this anymore because of Health and Safety issues if the box breaks..........

Ledge

do what the yanks do and use paper bags

InspectorSands

I remember Sainsburys doing huge paper bags when I was little.

Salad

Should be 10p a carrier bag, we''ll soon start using less wasteful alternatives, so it won't cost us anyway.

F-Blocker

Safeway always used to do the brown paper bags too (thanks to the American heritage of the company).
You can recycle plastic bags...

Henry Irving

When I was a nipper the greengrocer would weigh out the tatters and then tip them direct into the shopping bag, mud 'n all. And he spin the paper bag around to tie the corners on the bags of fruit.

Nothing to add to this debate just felt like doing a bit of "in the good old days" stuff : - )

Salad

err, they still do that Henry .... there are still greengrocers around .. .try to use them!

Charlton Dan

[cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]When I was a nipper the greengrocer would weigh out the tatters and then tip them direct into the shopping bag, mud 'n all. And he spin the paper bag around to tie the corners on the bags of fruit.

Nothing to add to this debate just felt like doing a bit of "in the good old days" stuff : - )

And heres a picture of a young Ben Hayes outside his local Provisons Dealer

Henry Irving

[cite]Posted By: Salad[/cite]err, they still do that Henry .... there are still greengrocers around .. .try to use them!

They closed my local greengrocers and it's now a florists.

Henry Irving

[cite]Posted By: Charlton Dan[/cite]

[cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]When I was a nipper the greengrocer would weigh out the tatters and then tip them direct into the shopping bag, mud 'n all. And he spin the paper bag around to tie the corners on the bags of fruit.

Nothing to add to this debate just felt like doing a bit of "in the good old days" stuff : - )

And heres a picture of a young Ben Hayes outside his localProvisons Dealer

I loved that jumper with the buttons on the shoulder. It was dark green and I called it Rosebud

StanmoreAddick

And that, tangenting for a moment is the biggest problem with Grocery retailing now.

Lazy apathetic people looking at a one stop shop for everything.

Unfortunately it won't be too long until greengrocers have gone the way of Fishmongers.

(gets off soapbox)

Medders

Oh come on, it's a lot more than being lazy... price plays a huge role in this.

StanmoreAddick

i can only speak from my own experience but a decent greengrocer will sell you fruit and veg at (considerably?) less that the price of the average big supermarket.

Salad

Greengrocer is CHEAPER!

Medders

I admit, we use a local farm shop for all our fruit and veg, so maybe not a good example to use!

Charlton_Charlie

The Fishmongers at Maze Hill is much more expensive than Sainsburys...so they won't be getting my custom (added to the fact that I don't really eat fish)