Sainsburys: stopping plastic bag delivery

[wink1970]

I just received an email from Sainsburys (who I have a delivery pass for, so that's a fee that I won't get back!), saying they are stopping using plastic bags for deliveries.

This is why I stopped using Tesco.

~ I don't want a delivery man coming in to the house, especially not with heavy crates - one of our floor tiles is cracked as a result of trying that once.
~ I don't want to rush around transferring groceries from a crate to something in the house
~ I don't want to carry items an armful at a time into the kitchen.

AIBU? I recycle every single bag they bring and I happily pay the extra charge.

If you use ocado (appreciate that for some things they are expensive) they take back bags from anywhere and give you 5p for each one. They then recycle these into more plastic bags. On our first shop with them we did a trawl of the house/loft/garage/shed etc and got about £5 off our shopping with all the bags we returned for recycling.

The last thread I saw on this mentioned an Australian supermarket who use recyclable crates. The supermarkets should just leave the crates behind where people don't want to repack on the doorstep. They could charge a deposit on them to make sure they get them back.

Yes yabu. I find when delivered at home the supermarkets use way more bags than required plus its those cheap almost single use bags.

It really isn't hard to have bags ready and unload at the door.

We must stop using so much plastic unnecessarily!

My comment deleted Fair enough but scrolling up the disabilist comment it was in response to is left to stand

Quelle surprise.

Carrier bags from a supermarket are lousy for containing cat-litter: they all have holes in them so babies/small children can't suffocate if they go over their heads.

They aren't much use as bin-bags either, for the same reason.

Yes yabu. I find when delivered at home the supermarkets use way more bags than required plus its those cheap almost single use bags.

Yes I found that as well! We don’t use delivery but my Granny does and i’m always amazed by the sheer amount of bags, like sometimes they’ll be one with 1 tin of soup in!

You’ve had some good tips, OP - I agree with the suggestion of having some big bags for life sitting waiting to decant everything into.

Just have boxes or bags ready at the door.

I think it’s brilliant.

We’re drowning in sodding plastic, and while you can reuse the bags they cannot be recycled, so fewer bags is better than reusing bags.
It will need some getting used to by some people but it can be done.
We have retiring the bags to Ocado and Waitrose for a long time.

It’s he supermarkets will be reducing plastic packaging in store too, so that will be even better.

I do this and it takes a couple of minutes, it’s so easy
I’m all for it, but it really isn’t going to be easy for me, or take a couple of minutes. I’ve got arthritis and there will be times (when DDs and DH aren’t around) when I won’t be able to bend, move quickly enough, carry stuff through more than a bag at a time etc and I’m anticipate there maybe will be some frustration from the delivery person as I assume they are still expected to do the same number of deliveries per hour. And no, when I’m alone I don’t want someone I don’t know coming through the house, not least because I’ll have to wrangle the dogs so they’re not trying to smother the ‘exciting’ new visitor!

HelenaDove
Flipping hell, can’t believe you of all people got deleted! And yes, quelle surprise indeed.

But you want a planet that isn't fucked over by too much plastic? As long as your tiles are ok.

Ffs.

Delivery in Ireland has never had plastic bags. I can’t even fathom why you would want bags to transport your stuff from your door to the kitchen.

Of course YABU. The world is drowning in plastic because people like you don't want to be inconvenienced. Ridiculous.

I just take the crate from the driver and unload it in the kitchen and hand the empty crate back. If it's too heavy keep ikea bags by the door?

Judashascomeintosomemoney if that’s the case, could you make sure you decant the fridge/freezer stuff into the same bags at the door, then the other cupboard stuff into other bags, then sort the fridge/freezer slowly but leave the cupboard stuff for your DS and DH to sort out once they get home?

Of course, but that’s not what I’m anticipating having an issue with. Sometimes I’m going to be slow putting stuff into bags, boxes or whatever at the door. Sometimes I’m not going to be able to bend down at all and the delivery person will have to hold the crate up for me to get to. I’m assuming (based on a lot of experience - some people get frustrated by others frailties, it’s shit but it’s reality) that they’re not all going to be cheery about the delay (as I said, I don’t imagine they’re going to be given any extra time for deliveries).

@Judashascomeintosomemoney - I’ve got arthritis and there will be times (when DDs and DH aren’t around)

Book your delivery for when they are around. And if your husband announces he's popping out - well no, because the shopping's coming.

Tesco do this. They put the crates on my dining table and help me move the items on to the dining table. I then put them away after they've gone

Book your delivery for when they are around. And if your husband announces he's popping out - well no, because the shopping's coming
Er, yeah, that’s not going to work when he’s in Asia for three months working but ok . Anyway, I’m perfectly capable, I’m just not quick. Having said that, all the Sainsbury’s drivers I’ve encountered so far have been lovely, just hoping they stay lovely when under a bit of time pressure. If they’re late for your delivery slot, don’t Sainsbury’s refund the delivery charge? I assume that’s something the drivers get penalised for and so, no matter how good everyone’s plan for no bags delivery is, it is going to take longer and so they are going to be under pressure. Just have to see how it pans out

Well done Sainsbury's. We've been having shopping delivered for a while bag-less. Delivery man/woman brings them into my kitchen and helps me unpack them.

I cancelled my tesco delivery saver when they stopped doing bags purely because the first couple of deliveries i had with no bag my shopping was covered in milk one week then shampoo or something the second week. The crates they come in are manky covered in all sorts so I'll go and pack my own shopping now.

Yabu to find inconvenient one of the fashionable, compulsory virtues that MN users currently agree with. Have kids, use air con or whatever? Fine, just heaven forfend that you have uses for plastic bags!

Crikey is this still running?

Thanks, there have been some good suggestions which I hadn't thought about. Much appreciated.

May I observe some quite hysterical rhetoric, though:
'get several grips'
'ridiculous'
'whiner'

What happened to Mumsnet? It was a reasonable question to ask (no I didn't know the plastic bags were not recyclable: our council accepts them in the blue bins, so I presumed they were) and many of you gave reasonable and useful answers, so thanks again.

I can do without the disablist stuff, though, and the keyboard warriors' vitriol when a useful answer would have sufficed. So good evening, all, I hope it is a pleasant one.

In some countries shopping bags are much stronger and don't have any holes so they can be used as bin liners. That's a good idea and saves you having to buy rolls of bin liners as well.

If you struggle, ask the driver to help you decant stuff from crate into other bags. I’m sure most would rather help you than stand there watching you struggle!