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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

400 replies

Snoozebox · 15/09/2015 19:30

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?

OP posts:
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JuJuMun69 · 15/09/2015 20:08

I smoke, I pay for another person who doesnt to have treatment on the NHS as well as myself through taxes. I also expect a carrier bag to put my goods that I buy in to be free.

Angelika321 · 15/09/2015 20:10

I can live with paying an extra 50p for my bags when I do a big shop. I'm likely to forget to take them with me and will end up always having to buy them. As long as they're better quality than the shitty free ones. They tear with the last provocation and end up dumping my shopping on the floor as I unload the car.

gamerchick · 15/09/2015 20:10

Hope you don't buy 10s then or you might combust a bit.

Pipbin · 15/09/2015 20:10

I also expect a carrier bag to put my goods that I buy in to be free.
Expect away, it won't be.

Coffeethrowtrampbitch · 15/09/2015 20:10

Is it a 5p charge or a 5p minimum charge?

We have the latter in Scotland, and I've found with some shops once people got wise and started to carry bags, they would offer sturdy plastic bags for 20p. If you complained you were told it was a minimum and they could charge what they liked, so unless you have a bag or can carry your shopping without one, they make an extra 20p. More if you require more bags.

It is a bit annoying sometimes but you get used to it quickly.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 15/09/2015 20:10

I am the really surprised, that some of you are surprised. I thought it was well publicised, hence my carrier bag hording. I agree with it btw, the plastic carrier bag wastage is shocking.

MajesticWhine · 15/09/2015 20:12

It's a good thing and it works fine in Wales. What's annoying me is that ocado have emailed to say they are going to charge me for the bags they use to deliver my shopping to me. And they really over use them, sometimes they pack just 4 things in a bag, so I end up with 20 bags or something for a weeks shopping.

JuJuMun69 · 15/09/2015 20:13

Why are you telling me to get over myself Miss? Its the principle and if you just want to roll over and accept then thats up to you.

JuJuMun69 · 15/09/2015 20:14

It should be totally so, it should be large companies finding a solution for us consumers.

Blankiefan · 15/09/2015 20:16

Another Scot here. Totally support it too. It's such a small cost but has a huge impact on behaviours. Suddenly bags have value and they don't seem disposable - so you're careful ; only take them if you need them. You buy better ones that are more expensive but will last. You get used to carrying one with you.

Give it a year and it'll just become the norm... (Although paying for a McDonalds bag still feels wrong!!)

cashewnutty · 15/09/2015 20:17

JuJu I think if you don't accept it you might have difficulty getting your shopping home from the supermarket. I don't think they will just give you bags for free if you whine a bit. You are buying goods, not a bag. If you don't want to pay for the bags very time get some nice strong shoppers. The hessian ones from Tesco are great and last for years.

TheSpottedZebra · 15/09/2015 20:19

Majestic don't ocado give you the option to not have bags?

I support this charge too. But I also think that companies need to seriously reduce other plastic wastage - products are seriously over-packaged and this should be prohibited too.

SilverBirchWithout · 15/09/2015 20:20

The principle is fine.

Single use plastic carriers are big issue for the environment. Other methods to reduce our over reliance on them has not worked. In countries where they have introduce a nominal charge, people's shopping behaviour has changed.

What is the problem. Most of us will carry bags with us, if we forget we will donate to charity through our 5p charge.

JuJuMun69 · 15/09/2015 20:21

It shouldnt be accepted. Im obviously going to have to do it, its wrong though and will have to follow the sheep in this.

JuJuMun69 · 15/09/2015 20:22

Do you seriously believe it will go to charity? really?

treaclesoda · 15/09/2015 20:23

In NI the bag charge is an actual tax that the retailer must collect and pay to the Department of something or other.

Is it not a tax in England, just a rule that the bags can't be free any more?

Sirzy · 15/09/2015 20:23

Perhaps rather than being sheep people can actually see this is a good idea?

SpottyTeacakes · 15/09/2015 20:24

I didn't know either op yanbu.

I don't think it's a big deal though, as others have said just take some bags with you Confused

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 15/09/2015 20:24

I'm quite happy accepting it because I dont think they should be free..

TheSpottedZebra · 15/09/2015 20:24

JuJu you sound very angry

FyreFly · 15/09/2015 20:24

It's not hard to remember to take a bag with you, especially if you're heading out with the express intent of doing a big shop. I can see how it might be easy to forget if you're popping in for a pint of milk after work. But 5p is not an overzealous charge. A really big shop you're looking at about 10-12 bags, so 50-60p? I.e. the cost of a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps...

We've become lazy and disorganised. Plastic bags weren't a common sight before the 70s. I have a number of jute bags, bags for life and other fabric bags I've managed to accumulate over the years.

Not going to lie, the shop plastic bags are fantastic as bin liners, or dog poo bags, so I'll probably have to start buying dedicated bin liners and poo bags. Whether that will save me any money or whether it will help the environment overall, I don't know. We have quite an unhealthy relationship with disposable goods and packaging as a whole (yes, the manufacturers and supermarkets are just as bad when they pack 3 apples in approximately 10m2 of plastic) and if this makes people start thinking then I'm all for it.

ENtertainmentAppreciated · 15/09/2015 20:26

I haven't been given a bag free option by Ocado.
They did point me at this
www.gov.uk/guidance/carrier-bag-charges-retailers-responsibilities
Sounds like a very expensive red tape nightmare.

FWIW whenever I do go to the shops I have plenty of bags I take with me.

JuJuMun69 · 15/09/2015 20:27

No its not on so many levels..

Large multi million pound companies do not find a solution
Large multi million pound companies dare to pass this charge on
The company is still being advertised
I choose what I send to charity they dont

I do not believe that they give it to charity either

You carry on being a sheep

Sirzy · 15/09/2015 20:28

Well wheel your shopping out in the trolley then. You aren't being forced to buy bags.

Scholes34 · 15/09/2015 20:28

Angelika321 if the quality of the bags is so bad, why haven't you been taking your own?

In my collection of reusable bags I've got a Supervalu one from Ireland that I bought in 2002 - still going strong - along with a Carrefour one from France bought in 2007 and a Globus one from Germany from 2012.

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