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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think supermarket deliveries shouldn’t be in plastic bags (OCADO)

125 replies

DingDongBella · 09/12/2023 11:04

So I normally order online deliveries from Tesco who just put a basket full of groceries on your doormat which you can unload onto your own bags. This means no single use plastic, no bag charge and you can look at everything to make sure it is good quality before you accept it.
Today I used a 25% off code with free delivery to try Ocado. The delivery guy just dumped my entire shop on the doormat in bags. Each chilled item had its own bag so a small shop used 15 plastic bags, most of which were ripped so can’t be reused.
AIBU to think in this day and age supermarket deliveries shouldn’t be bagged in single use plastic?

OP posts:

Switchingoff · 09/12/2023 11:05

You can give them back the next time for recycling.

Chilicabbage · 09/12/2023 11:06

Yeah they take them back. I mamaged to give them back once straight away. Small shop
They even explain their bags and why on their website.

Grumio · 09/12/2023 11:08

Their bags are made of recycled plastic which why they are that weird grey colour and you can given them back to the delivery driver to be reused.

TinaYouFatLard · 09/12/2023 11:08

They also refund you when you return the bags.

HermioneWeasley · 09/12/2023 11:08

It’s because of how the Ocado picking system (highly automated) works. Just give them back for recycling.

Growlybear83 · 09/12/2023 11:11

I would stop my ocado deliveries if I was expected to unload stuff on the doorstep into my own bags or baskets. But what I do get irritated with is how many bags they use and I'm forever finding one or two items in one bag.

Original poster

DingDongBella · 09/12/2023 11:11

But Tesco manage without them. Surely there is quite a big environmental effect producing and recycling so many bags.

OP posts:

StarlightLady · 09/12/2023 11:13

If that is how a highly automated system works, it’s a rubbish system!

Chasingsquirrels · 09/12/2023 11:13

Totally agree OP.
I similarly used the 25% offer last week and thought the same.
I don't want to hand them back - I'd rather not have them in the first place.

With the crates, I carry them into the kitchen and unload it all onto the counter.

Cosywintertime · 09/12/2023 11:13

You give them back and get 5 p per bag and they are recycled, I don’t see the issue. If they weren’t recycled I’d be with you.

IGotItFromAgnes · 09/12/2023 11:13

DingDongBella · 09/12/2023 11:11

But Tesco manage without them. Surely there is quite a big environmental effect producing and recycling so many bags.

And that’s why I don’t use Tesco. Bags are much easier when you don’t have a convenient place to unload unpacked shopping.

Cosywintertime · 09/12/2023 11:14

IGotItFromAgnes · 09/12/2023 11:13

And that’s why I don’t use Tesco. Bags are much easier when you don’t have a convenient place to unload unpacked shopping.

Show quote history

Me too, I’m fine with recycling. My mate gets deliveries in crates and she’s always rushing, don’t like it at all.

MenorcaMarguerite · 09/12/2023 11:15

Ocado zoom used paper bags.

Skybyrd · 09/12/2023 11:25

I'm (fairly mildly) disabled and really struggle both to shop in person and to manage unbagged grocery deliveries, so Ocado and Iceland are lifesavers for me. I hate to think how someone more limited than me copes with shopping and/or unbagged deliveries.

Ocado also explain on their website that they use a 'closed loop recycling scheme' for their bags and that using bags causes less waste and fewer delivery vans on the road, so is overall more environmentally friendly than other methods they've trialled of delivering groceries. I love how clean the items are, their usually long useage dates and I appreciate their polite and pleasant delivery drivers.

Finestreason · 09/12/2023 11:28

I don’t order from places that don’t use bags. I wouldn’t want Ocado to stop. They recycle theirs and any other bags I can return to them.

MereDintofPandiculation · 09/12/2023 11:29

The delivery guy would probably get only half the deliveries done if he had to hang around while people unpacked

Parentblame · 09/12/2023 11:30

I prefer it and only use Ocado due to this as we have difficult circumstances meaning it’s easier to grab the bags and get stuff in as the crates Tesco etc use takes a lot longer . We give the bags back each time

CuteOrangeElephant · 09/12/2023 11:32

I order from a supermarkt abroad and they have a crate system, the shopping is in crates that you keep til the next delivery (or you can hand it back to a physical shop). You pay a small deposit, but as you pay at the door the cost is neutral in theory (ie you receive your groceries in two crates and you hand two back).

This seems the most efficient way of doing things.

IGotItFromAgnes · 09/12/2023 11:34

CuteOrangeElephant · 09/12/2023 11:32

This seems the most efficient way of doing things.

That’s fine if you have somewhere to store the crates. And can manage to carry a fully loaded crate.

IglesiasPiggl · 09/12/2023 11:35

Bags make deliveries quicker, and I really like the one hour slots you get on Ocado as a result. I just hand the previous week's back the following week and they refund however many you return.

CuteOrangeElephant · 09/12/2023 11:38

IGotItFromAgnes · 09/12/2023 11:34

That’s fine if you have somewhere to store the crates. And can manage to carry a fully loaded crate.

Show quote history

DH used to deliver for them, he would carry it to the kitchen. He delivered to a lot of elderly customers.

The crates fold up quite small, I suppose if you really can't store it you could decant everything quickly.

ATerrorofLeftovers · 09/12/2023 11:39

Much prefer the bags, which Ocado go to great lengths to recycle.

I hate deliveries of loose items in a crate. I’m then stressed and under pressure and left with 100 loose items in my hall I need to ferry to the kitchen.

It’s really not great for the drivers either. It makes each delivery longer than they used to be, but when I asked the Sainsbury’s driver if this was taken account of in the management expectations of their performance, he said it isn’t. They’re still expected to achieve as many deliveries per shift as before and if they can’t do it in time they have to run late with no overtime. Why should the drivers be subject to this?. 😡

It’s one of those issues - common with eco concerns IME - where what looks like a no-brainer turns out to be anything but and actually not an improvement once you study all impacts of the change.

marshmallowfinder · 09/12/2023 11:40

Growlybear83 · 09/12/2023 11:11

I don't know about Ocado but I'm a supermarket picker and you have to deal with each item as it comes up. You have no idea what else the customer has ordered that's coming up, so you just bag as you go. There's no time to mess about at the end, rearranging all the bags or putting everything into one. It's v time pressured.

BethDuttonsTwin · 09/12/2023 11:41

DingDongBella · 09/12/2023 11:11

But Tesco manage without them. Surely there is quite a big environmental effect producing and recycling so many bags.

They do and it really puts me off ordering from them. I’m in a first floor flat and have to bring boxes and bags down to throw all my delivery in to. There’s no time to do it with care and it’s just very stressful. So I go with Ocado and send my bags back each week.

StockpotSoup · 09/12/2023 11:41

Can’t you just reuse them as you would with bags for life? They can’t ALL be ripped.

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