to think that all of UK's supermarkets should charge for a carrier bag?

[SoleSource]

This topic was featured on The One Show this evenibg.

I pkan to use my big blue Ikea bags for shopping from now on and the bag for life for just a,dew itens.

Sorry it is boring but I feel important.

T- Rex's get free bags, of coyrse

YANBU BUT the supermarkets need to address the issue of excess packaging on practically every item they sell, which dwarfs the whole issue of plastic bags completely.

Waitrose replace your bag for life foc if it starts falling apart, don't know if any others do the same.

Why should we pay to advertise a retailer by carrying a bag with their logo on it?

They should be paying us to do it by giving us the bag free.

As others, I don't use M&S if I don't have bags with me.

Supermarkets used to give bags for free. i.e. the supermarkets paid for them. By charging us they are simply shifting the charge to us and boosting their profits. The shop assistant in one supermarket told me the profits from the carrier bags goes to charity. That doesn't make sense because it means the supermarkets, as well as passing the costs to us, they also over-charge and give our money away on our behalf. It's a scam.

tesco bags for life are shite, we've got through loads of them, and they only have pathetic sized replacements now

we use lidl ones are they're huge

what about clothes shops then op?

In Wales we have to pay 5p for every carrier bag, it is the law. I always take my own now.

YABU

YANBU BUT the supermarkets need to address the issue of excess packaging on practically every item they sell, which dwarfs the whole issue of plastic bags completely.

I think the focus on plastic bags is a bit misguided myself - there are far more pressing environmental concerns. It's almost like a distraction technique to stop people worrying about the bigger issues like cars, nappies and so on.

Hear hear to both sentiments. It's a distraction.

As SecretNutella says, it's already law in Wales. I was most amused to hear a woman ranting at a shopkeeper over being charged for a bag, thinking this was their new policy, only to be told politely, no, it's the law, it's the same everywhere. It was only just over the border from England, to be fair...but it was still very amusing to see her indignation getting so thoroughly squashed.

The free bags from tesco do break down after so long.

We get clothes donated in them and if we don't remove the clothes from the carrier bags and just put them into bin bags (according to age/gender) still inside, we often open the bin bag and are showered with tiny pieces, similar to confetti.

I always manage to take bags with me when i shop at Aldi or Lidl, because i won't carry their own, perhaps we should just make a % of bags too embarrassing to want to carry them?

I love Asda's new 'Tickled Pink' reusable bags but they are only small, we are not all constant car drivers.

I agree that the packaging of goods is more of a problem.

I agree with richman I often think that carrier bags are used as a way to detract from the enormous quantities of plastic being discarded because it's highly visible.

The tonnes of used pallet wrap being sent to landfill every week dwarfs the weight of carrier bags used.

I think that if you're going to introduce a charge the supermarkets need to follow through and recycle their own waste and have packaging on products which is recyclable. What's the environmental point of paying for a bag when you're buying fruit and veg on polystyrene trays covered with shrinkwrap which are both much harder to recycle.

I use my supermarket bags as bin bags therefore I don't need to buy bin liners. I also have bags for life that I take on the big shop.

How much are the carrier bags each in Wales?

Birds Tesco and the Co-op bags used to be made with oxo-degradable additive so that they'd break down three years after manufacture (faster if exposed to natural environment) They've discontinued this so the bags'll last for decades now.

I disagree, if you are going along that route then everyone should use washable nappies for their children.

It's fecking ridiculous that they charge US for carrier bags when THEY still shrink wrap cucumbers and wrap 4 baking potatoes in a plastic tray and outside wrapper! I am almost at the point of unwrapping things at the check out and leaving the waste for them to deal with!

What gracie said.

The supermarkets have the gall to lecture about carrier bag use when they package everything to the nth degree. Why don't they tackle that? A stance on carrier bags and milk cartons is not enough imo.

In eco terms, the carrier bag debate is just deflecting attention from the major ecological problem of climate change.

There's no point driving to Waitrose in your 4x4 feeling all virtuous because your boot is stuffed with bags for life.

My sainsburys bags for life have been going strong for 10 years now with only minimal fraying at the top corners. They get used about twice a week for heavy shopping. What the hell do you all do to yours that they don't last very long?

In France the supermarkets don't even have carrier bags. You can buy reusable bags though. It's amazing how quickly you remember to take them with you.

No!

The figures on how often you need to reuse shopping bags suggest this is not necessarily a win on CO2.

I do use big reusable bags (as they work much better in my car boot), but they get very grubby.

I don't care and just wipe them occasionally. If fussier people replace them often, there is little gain.

Well said onehand

solesource - carrier bags are 5p each in Wales, Bags for Life are 6p in Tesco and thereabouts in most supermarkets.

I think most people have misunderstood the meaning of 'bags for life' - they're not supposed to last for ever, but you're supposed to reuse them until they become unusable and then they give you a new one.

You do have a shift in the way you shop - I'd feel guilty to see a trolley full of single-use carrier bags now, and if I forget mine it's only a penny more to buy reusable bags, and then I have more to keep in the boot of my car to lessen the chance of forgetting them ;)

We go to Wales for our holidays, and the charge does make a difference. I try to remember my bags when in England, but I have to say, I try a lot harder to remember them in Wales because not paying extra does motivate you.

I dont mind paying for decent bags but Asda/tesco bags are so bloody flimsy anyway. I do reuse them to line my kitchen bin though.