Or are Boots for charging for paper bags?

[ImABeanBanana]

I'm trying to reuse a tote bag for shopping but was caught out this evening when I went to Boots. When I went to the till I found the bags were paper which is great but I was then charged for it. AIBU or is this CF territory? Wasn't the idea that plastic bags had a charge due to environmental impact? I can't even reuse the bloody thing if I wanted to! I don't mind if it's like Flying Tiger or Sainsbury's and I get a tote but can't understand this.

AIBU?

My local supermarket does that. All their boxes are stacked by the tills and you help yourself. Saves a bag and I bring the box to the recycling or use it again.

Paper bags can be recycled, but that’s an industrial process which has an environmental impact. Better to encourage people to use reusable bags, rather than single use ones

Exactly. Maybe they've noticed that people have been merrily using paper bags only once, thinking that's OK, especially if they recycle it, and the only way the change behaviour is to charge people. But no, it's reduce, reuse then recycle.

If you reuse your bag, it's 20 pence for multiple uses, so the cost per use is tiny, if you don't bother to reuse your bags, the cost adds up.

Reusing bags only a few times can have a significant impact on the number of bags used, on a population level. If you reuse a bag only once, the number of bags used is halved. If you reuse a bag 10 times, the number of bags goes down by 90%. Over the whole population, this is millions, possibly tens or hundreds of millions of bags per year.

I've noticed they've charged in Wales for all bags for years?

In McDonalds just over the border from England, I was surprised that they wanted to charge me for a paper bag if I wanted one, but fair enough, if you can manage without or bring your own.

There are some exceptions to charging for a bag in Scotland, including prescription bags. See below.

Bags of any size used solely to contain exempted items listed in the Regulations:

1. Unpackaged food for human or animal consumption, such as loose fruit and vegetables, bakery items, pick and mix sweets and dry animal food.

2.Unpackaged loose seeds, bulbs, corms or rhizomes, such as grass seeds, daffodil bulbs or root ginger.

1. Any unpackaged axe, knife, knife blade or razor blades, such as a kitchen knife which is mounted on cardboard but not then enclosed in wrapping.

1. Unpackaged goods contaminated by soil, such as soil, compost, potted plants, fishing bait and wormery worms.

1. Certain medicinal products, such as fullfilling prescription requests and pharmacy medication which can only be dispensed by a qualified pharmacist.

Please be aware that the above exemptions are only valid where the bag provided is used solely to contain one or more of these listed items.

The downside of no plastic bags is I now have to specifically buy them to put my rubbish in, instead of recycling those which I'd get with my normal shop.

Same here. The only difference now is I'm buying bin liners so I'm still using bags.

Boots are donating all bag sales money to children in need. They are not making a profit on it. Just remember to being a reusable one.

*bring

But I suppose if you're buying bin liners you're only buying what you need. You may manage your stocks well, but many people don't.

In the days of free supermarket carrier bags, I knew several people who had entire kitchen cupboards full of plastic bags. They'd just never think to take bags to the supermarket. Or they get home delivery and that comes with loads of bags, and they never bother to give them back to the driver to recycle.

They might reuse a few, but most of them would simply sit in the cupboard until full and then be thrown away. I would take quite a few off my sister for example, to use as bin bags, but many just sat there for years.

I have no objection whatsoever to paying for bags. It’s 5-10p. Who cares?

What I do get irritated about is that where I shop (Asda) they make it really difficult to find a bag! If you use the self service checkouts they are nowhere to be seen and it’s so unhelpful when you’re running in for something and you have no bag on you.

@Trafalger We know, we were discussing it on the previous page.

Kwiksave always used to charge for bags.

The bag charge is about single use bags, not what they are made of

Well unless someone is watching me 24 hours a day, how on earth do they know I'm only using the bag once? Because even the thinnest shittiest bag I've ever received in a shop has been reused in some way, even if it's being used as a bin liner in a bathroom bin.

I don't know @ShatnersWig I suppose the Scottish government have some sort of way to categorise what they think it single use. I agree with you that it's bollocks; I reuse lots of bags that they consider 'single use'

H and m charge for paper bags .. I'm not sure why. I did question it and the girl said everyone charges for bags but I said yeah for plastic but this is paper but she blue screened so I gave up.

Blue screened?

Is your H&M in England?

Let me know where to send the 10p to
YABU

Another reason for the charge is to simply act as a deterrent for wasteful bag usage, regardless of it being made from paper or plastic. Else customers will just treat the free paper bags as frivolously as they did with free plastic bags, which doesn’t help anyone

Blue screened as in she just froze and stared at me .. no comment or recognition of my question.. yes h and m in the UK

yes h and m in the UK

I asked if it was England, not the UK.

Ok yes England

You might be able to hand your own bag over in McDonalds to be filled rather than be given a paper one, but they won't fill a re-usable cup for you.

I hate their stuff anyway but once in a while I need fries, never get a drink from them and no longer get the veggie burgers as they have changed them to weird strips of crud that make me feel ill.

Ok yes England

You say that as if there was a problem with me asking. I don't think it a difficult or unreasonable thing to ask.

The bag charge is about single use bags, not what they are made of

Well unless someone is watching me 24 hours a day, how on earth do they know I'm only using the bag once? Because even the thinnest shittiest bag I've ever received in a shop has been reused in some way, even if it's being used as a bin liner in a bathroom bin.

I think this is missing the point - it's about the use in their store. Even bags for life cost money the first time when you buy them, and are then free each time you re-use them. And they obvioously you haven't reused them at the point of sale! Why would you get a free bag just because it's paper? It still costs money to provide (and arguably more than a plastic one would).

If people have had to pay for a bag, they're probably more likely to reuse it in some way than just bin it.

@Baritriwsahys jeez .. I answered your question . You are the one with a weird tone 🙄

You answered eventually. I have no weird tone, i just wanted to clarify.