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?

Yes to getting rid of the ones in Tesco which should carry blood pressure warnings but I am quite fond of the system in Waitrose :)

Even today my local asda doesn't have the bags out at the tills, the staff member looking after the tills has a collection of bags and asks if you need any - I'm sure it'll be the same once they charge, and they'll charge them in at that point too.

I'm in England and several times in Wales I purchased something ( clothing) and it was just pushed back at me without being asked if I wanted a bag.

Right so a few Welsh shop assistants might have given you less than perfect service so that is a valid reason for not introducing this? Yes totally see your point.

Good. I. Glad we've sorted that one ;-)

My Tesco delivery driver told me that stores will be fined thousands of pounds if they are caught giving away even one free bag, so it's going to be strictly adhered to.

I stocked up on half price Bags For Life today. I assume they will still be replaced for free when they wear out.

MrsDeVere the law only applies to shops with more than 250 employees so corner shops and off licences are exempt.

I don't know why England has restricted it to retailers with more than 250 employees. Wales and Scotland apply it to all shops. The Republic of Ireland has had this for years.

I am in Scotland- we have to ask for bags at self service. carrier bag charges apply to all retailers- even charity shops and car boot sales.
I now buy a lot more plastic bags as a result, I miss carrier bags for dirty jobs around the house- muddy shoes, rubbish, cat litter trays etc.

I like those waitrose dark green bags. They're very good

What's silly is paper bags cost also.

I went to the self checkout and helped myaself to a wedge of bags so I've got enough bin liners and wet clothes bags for the next year.

Bags are hardly any plastic compared too ready meals and fruit and veg packing.

Are people still moaning about this? How did we cope before supermarkets started giving free carrier bags away? Oh yes, we had things called 'shopping bags'.
I do agree about McDonalds and retailers generally using far too much packaging though. That really needs to be reduced as well.

Mc Donalds will charge for the paper bags but nothing for all the other plastic. Silly green washing.

eedon how many wet clothes bags do you need? Can't you leave one to dry and then reuse it?

I only noticed about the charge about a week ago. I don't mind paying for the bags - It might teach me to remember to bring reusable ones.

On a separate note, I thought the charged bags was an environmental issue. The less carriers floating about in the sea, harming turtles etc, can only be good. Perhaps the supermarkets should give the thick ones out for free so people will bring them back rather than using then thin ones for bin liners?

Paper bags still have an environmental impact, the wood pulp has to be processed, and as they're heavier than plastic bags they have a bigger environmental impact when transported.

I think the charge is a good thing, but agree that more needs to be done about food packaging.

Given that the supermarkets have had time to get all the problems worked out in Scotland and Wales why do you think any are going to have a problem doing the same thing in England?

Do you really think when a Tesco in Slough wants to know how self-scanning works with a carrier bag charge the manager in Glasgow is going to keep it a secret?

In the 60s everyone took a bag with them then plastic bags came along and all that stopped.

You get used to it pretty quickly (although I have 4 bags for life) and just pick up a bag if you are going shopping. Occasionally I buy things when I wasn't planning to but its only 5p.

Tescos certainly have a no bag option and if you select that you don't get charged - although I've yet to have a completely bag free delivery as they use bags to identify short dates and substitutions and to hold loose fruit/veg etc. But they don't charge for them. My deliveries certainly don't seem to be noticeably longer, they bring the crates in and we unpack in the kitchen.

spidey - corner shops and off licences aren't necessarily exempt. The 250 employees counts across chains of shops, so if your corner shop is one of, say, a chain of 50 nationwide, which each employ 5 people, then they'll have to charge.

In Wales I've noticed some shops like Morrisons etc have brought back the cardboard boxes under the till that they give away for free. We use those rather than plastic bags, and then we use the boxes for storage or we recycle them.

Bondgate, I meant independent corner shops and off licences.

We bought something in a shop yesterday. DH took out a big purple square of cloth that he carries for this purpose and deftly made himself a bag and slung it over his shoulder!

Basically you fold into a triangle and knot the two opposite pointy corners and then the two open corners you tie another reef knot.

He's a navy man so knows all about knots.
There's videos on it . One went faffing on for fourteen minutes and the other six,so I've cut it short for you.

Three knots is all you need.

It's a thin square of silk. Polyester works but silk is stronger and maybe finer to tuck into pocket, handbag . Probably about a 50 cm square