Morrisons Paper Bags - Money grabbing?

[Thunderpunt]

Fully prepared to be told IABU but I’ve noticed Morrison’s have brought in paper carrier bags and they’re charging 20p for them - same as for their standard plastic bag.

Now I was fully behind the plastic bag tax as a way to limit the use of plastic, and to encourage us to reuse/bring our own bags shopping.
And offering paper bags instead of plastic bags is a great move as (I assume I’m right in saying) they are more eco friendly.
But aren’t they being a bit cheeky in charging 20p for them?

A couple of things strike me. Firstly they say reusable, but mine got wet today in the downpour and it’s unlikely it will make another shopping trip. Secondly surely the idea of the plastic bag tax was to make us think about not using so much disposable stuff, and to remember to bring your own bags so we cut down on plastic in particular. I don’t believe these paper bags will get as many reuses as a 20p plastic bag so in essence less plastic, more trees cut down, more waste.
Thirdly, other places - Primark for example - don’t currently charge for paper bags - it feels like Morrison’s are just being a bit greedy and finding a way to make a quick buck by guilt tripping people into not using plastic bags.

I’m happy to hear all opposing views on this as I’m sure I must be missing something but at the moment I don’t think IABU in thinking Morrison’s are cheeky and money grabbing

I completely agree with you.

I’ll be completely honest, I try my best to always remember bags but I’m human and sometimes forget. Sometimes it’s a last minute decision to even go into the shop in the first place. If I can, I’ll pile the shopping into the pram basket (if I have the pram with me) and hopefully don’t need a bag. Sometimes it’s too much shopping so I end up with another 20p reusable plastic bag (I’m sure they used to be 10p ). Because of all these trips where I’ve needed to buy a bag, we now have approximately 80 in the cupboard . I think the bag charge has stopped me and a lot of people using so much plastic but I’m sure I’m not alone in now just having lots and lots of reusable bags that probably won’t get used again...

I wouldn’t buy a paper bag though, no way, they’re absolutely rubbish. I doubt very much you can reuse them, especially if you’ve bought something heavy. Just going by my experience with Primark paper bags, they’re awful! Particularly if it rains.

Jeez - order online then

Just not from Morrisons though as you will end up with a sackful of plastic bags.