To have not noticed about the 5p carrier bag charge?

[Snoozebox]

I feel it was sprung upon us! When was it officially agreed by government?

I was in Tesco today and saw the signs that from sometime next month it will be enforced.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with the charge and have heard about it being discussed for years, but I didn't know it had been made mandatory! The cashier looked at me pityingly when I queried it and said it has been all over This Morning the media for weeks. Have I been too distracted by Jeremy Corbyn's lovely visage to notice this?

JuJu, I genuinely don't really know what point you are trying to make, other than coming across as very Goady and wanting a slanging match.

Some of the points you have made had an element of sense in them, but you have lost most of us because of your adversarial posting style and conspiracy rantings.

The 5p minimum charge for carrier bags will not solve the whole over packaging issue. Supermarkets do need to take more responsibility for excess packing, which benefits them by improving shelf life and storage, it also encourages us the consumer to expect our goods to over packaged.

I live in wales where they have charged for ages now. To be honest it makes no difference I just buy more. Paper bags would be better

But in Primark the bonnets will end up on the floor, Bo's sheep will walk all over them, they'll get muddy. Stick with Accessorize Fuzzy

I dont like the corporate abuse that goes on. If you think that's "goady" then thats up to you to make that assumption. I dont agree with most so I am very allowed to post my views.

I find a lot of posters on here become rather passive aggressive in their writing when someone comes along that doesnt agree with the "crowd". I have a view and its important to me. I will say what I think and feel regardless of others.

I do not have to explain my views to strangers. I post what I think and feel. If the majority doesnt like my views I dont really care. I say what I want and am very entitled to do that!

I may regret this question, but in what way is the 5p carrier bag charge corporate abuse?

The main retailer's lobby were against its introduction and had promised to discourage use of single use carriers. This has not been effective and that's why it is finally being introduced. Countries in the UK less in thrall to the big corporates were happy to bring it in earlier that's why it has become law in England last, because Westminster dragged its heels.

You said it...

JuJu do you know what passive aggressive means? (And yes I realise that was passive aggressive!)

You don't like being told you're wrong do you?

my kitchen is first floor
i hope delivery drivers won't mind
undoubtedly they will

Fab thread.

Yanbu OP. I knew it was coming in but the 5th October hadn't really resonated.

My challenge for JuJu today its find out exactly where this money is going if it isn't going to charity. Not where she thinks it is going but where is is actually going. With a clicky link and everything.

And just by chance i flicked on to the BBC news website and found this item. I present this as my evidence for the money on carrier bags being used for good causes.

And my google last night led me to lists of charities tesco and asda have helped in Wales and Scotland with the money from carrier bags.

It passed me by, too, OP, but I usually take my own bags in any case.

Strange that juju is so invested in this issue. Does she not realise that, even if the corporates are forced to pay for this, the cost will be passed on to the consumers in any case? As someone who very rarely uses plastic bags, I don't really want to pay for those who can't be arsed to bring their own.

If you don't want to pay, just take a few bags with you FFS! It isn't difficult.

Be more environmentally friendly? then its up to the supermarkets to send their shopping out in something else surely! Its their problem not ours.

Why, JuJu? Surely making arrangements for carrying your shopping home is your problem, not the supermarket's? For years you've had the convenience of not having to take bags to the supermarket with you, now you will either have to do that or pay a minimal amount. Get over it.

JuJu, do you seriously think you aren't paying for bags now? The supermarkets don't get them for free, the cost is factored into what you pay for the goods you buy. So you are currently paying to advertise the shops where you buy things, unless you turn the bags inside out. Under the new law, you take your own bags, you don't have to pay, you don't have to advertise. Win win.

Having worked through all that lot now, one final question for JuJu: you called Treacle a liar and say you haven't been proven wrong. However, you unquestionably have been proven wrong in making that accusation. Do you think it might be an idea to apologise?

Not for everyone, but we carry 2 folding crates in the car. Go shopping, unfold crate into trolley (don't really need to do this, but it means you can .... ) load crate as you go around. Lift crate on to conveyor, unload (if you've nothing delicate you can tip it up) and repack at the other end.

No bags used.
Much faster than using bags (I am usually waiting for the checkout operator to scan).

Where did we get the idea ? Just something my DM has done for 30 years ....

I think it's a good idea but I don't know how they will enforce it on self scan checkouts. In M&S you have to select how many bags you need to be charged for before you get to the payment screen. If every store has this system I can imagine lots of bags won't be paid for. Same as the people who add on loads of green clubcard points in Tesco when they've not used their own bags

we do the same lurking
it's the done thing in germany where I lived for a while.
the crates are much stronger than bags, so no spillt wine milk or broken eggs and no handles cutting the blood supply off your hands.

NewMrsEx, they'll do it the same way as they do it in all the other countries who've had the bag charge for a while now.

You scan all your shopping and pack it into new bags if that's what you want to do. At the end you're asked how many new bags you used and that quantity is added to your bill.

No doubt some people steal bags the same way as they try to con the self scanners in lots of other ways, but that's up to them. It's a drop in the ocean compared to the hundreds of bags used at manned checkouts (and most people don't steal).

NewMrs at supermarkets here the self serve checkouts don't have single use bags available to take. If you want a bag you have to buy one of the more expensive ones and scan it through with your shopping. In theory I suppose people might not scan it but then you get the 'unexpected item in bagging area' message when you try to pack it, so most people do I suppose. Or I suppose you could call a member of staff over and ask for a 5p bag but I've never seen anyone do that.

Why not buy one of the reusable jute bags most retailers offer?
Just don't forget it in the boot like I do! :)

Haven't read through all 11 pages so apologies if this has been said before, but I want to know why retailers are not supplying paper bags and sacks. (I have asked at several stores, ie John Lewis, Tesco and M & S, but no satisfactory answer is forthcoming.)

I thought the whole idea of the charge was to discourage the use, and manufacture of, plastic bags, but it seems it is more to raise a compulsory levy for "the environment/ unspecified charities", which I resent.

I wonder what will happen when I produce my own bag for an article of clothing? Some years ago I refused to pay for plastic bags in the food dept. at M & S, but on offering to put a £3 T shirt into my shopping bag I was forced to put it into a (free) carrier bag, because otherwise I might be accused of shoplifting.