to not be expected to bring my own bags?

[mrsout]

Snotty cow behind the till in Sainsburys today gave me a lecture because I hadn't bought my own bags! I use the carrier bags as bin bags, is that so wrong? I DO have a couple of "Bags for Life" but they have ended up as swimming bags. Just leave tham at the end of the till like before!

YABU

I have been using my own bags for over 5 years now. You can buy them everywhere, they come free with some magazines at times, and you can get ones that are very small so they can go in your hand bag.

I try to use bags for life as much as poss and if I ever do pick up a normal plastic bag reuse it in my kitchen bin. I was unable to find any biodegradable pedal bin liners in my local waitrose so they are not always available.

I do hate the double standards though...why do supermarkets put up plastic bags for loose veg..why can't they put a supply of paper bags? Why aren't they cutting down on packaging....I think Sainsburys has some biodegradable packaging but haven't noticed any at M & S or Waitrose.

I also get infuriated by our fortnightly bin collection and the resulting maggot problems in the summer..the council ask us to double bag rubbish..how environmentally friendly is that?

you get nectar points for reusing your bags at sainsburys as well.....

I think you were supposed to bring your own bags then pack the bin bags you have bought specifically into your own bags to take them home with the rest of your shopping

yabu, get some sturdy reusable ones and take them with you.

"But, the issue as far as landfill is concerned, really winds me up. Yes, bags going to landfill is a problem, but miniscule when compared to the massive amount of packaging generated by the supermarkets."

Yes, I see what you mean, but we have to start somewhere. It is at the moment very hard to persuade manufacturers/retailers to stop multi-wrapping everything.
That does not mean that we as consumers should also not bother. Because if we felt like that then we are as good as gone.

The best thing is that if we start re-using bags adn choose items in the supermarket which are not pre-wrapped, the retailers will get teh idea eventually and change their packaging strategies.

oh yes - the Nectar points for bags is a strange thing..they give you one point per bag brought with you....so you are better off in terms of points gained by bringing in lots of bags and putting one item in each rather than squashing all your things in a couple of very large bags!

Am I the only one who finds this strange?..surely it would make more sense if they just gave you a set amount, say 5 points if you don't take any of their disposable bags.

i got a 'gold star' yesterday in m and s for saying to put my shopping in with my new boots i had bought elsewhere. hate platic bags.

I disagree that re-using plastic bags to put the rubbish in, isn't actually recyling.

Its far more expensive to buy (plastic) bin liners than to forgo the points at sainsbury's for not re-using 'bags for life'. I don't actually buy bin bags, I use carrier bags. Surely its just the same whatever you put your rubbish out in? A carrier bag or a bin liner - its all going to landfill!

However I have re-used carrier bags for years and years before all this bag for life stuff started. Simply because sometimes carrier bags had a habit of taking over my whole under the stairs cupboard.

I absolutely think that the supermarkets are taking the pee out of us, selling us overpriced hessian bags, and making us feel bad for maybe using a till bag once in a while - when even a single apple sold in their stores is supposed to be put into a plastic bag when you take it off the shelf.
I object to paying several pounds a time for those hessian bags. I make a point of always going into Sainsburys with my Netto or Lidl bags

I agree Miffy - I take 5 huge bags, so only ever 5 points, even if I have things like multipack bottled water etc loose in the trolley in addition to my bags.

Dh once bought 3 items and decided to just carry them to the car instead of taking a bag. He got no points for that. He did try to argue the point with the checkout lady but she was not budging....
Flipping Sainsburys....

I didn't know that about nectar points - that's good to know - Thanks!

I have a string bag rolled up in my handbag - problem is I just bought a new handbag and need reminding to put the string bag in whichever bag I'm using - it's inevitably in the other handbag.

Those buggers in sainsburys never give me the points for bringing my own bags and I'm too shy to ask.

You should take your own bags with you - doesn't much matter what kind of bags they are although I prefer cloth bags of various sorts.

Cashier should not have lectured you (if that's what she did - you don't really say what she said to you).

Better still, don't shop at supermarkets (or at least, not more than you can help). Shopping at local independents means that you can usually buy exactly what you actually need with far less packaging, the quality is generally better and although the price might be a bit more, it is easier to reduce waste thus saving money in the longer term - and more of what you do spend stays in your local area (so you reduce your carbon footprint).

Oh, and why not buy biodegradable bin bags for the much reduced quantity of actual waste you will generate?

I am very sure that the supermarkets are pleased not to have to spend some of their profits on bags for customers to take away their purchases. I don't think I am being cynical, either.

If they really wanted to make a difference they'd cut down on the packaging, junk mail, etc etc.

Are you quite sure you had a snotty lecture and not just a comment that caught you at a bad time? I would be very surprised for a cashier to be actually rude, their jobs are pretty precarious as it is. They are probably briefed to give some spiel and try to flog you some more bags for life.

YABU to call a complete stranger a snotty cow. Hope she is not reading this.

What about all the plactic packaging the supermarkets use - loads of cardboard & paper - is this all recycled? All the packaging that is sold - sometimes feel like leaving the cereal packaging & the paper around yogurt pots at the cash desk.

I don't understand why Ocado shopping bags are recycleable or biodegrade within 3 years and none of the other major supermarkets are?

I don't understand why Ocado shopping bags are recycleable or biodegrade within 3 years and none of the other major supermarkets are?

I have about a squillion bags for life from every shop in the British Isles in the boot of my car. Do I remember to take them into the shop? Do I bollocks. However, if I get carrier bags I just give them to the Tesco van man who takes them away for me.

Aggggghhhh, why is this so hard for people?

Firstly - the bags were never free. The cost of everything in the supermarket is worked into the price you pay somewhere. So effetively we're all paying more for bananas so you can line your kitchen bin for free anyway.

Secondly - carrier bags are a stronger grade plastic that the swing bin liners, are rarely recycled or biodegradeable and will take longer to degrade in landfill. Buy recycled bags for your bins.

Thirdly - Most people don't recycle their carrier bags as bin liners - yes it's better that you do rather than fling them in the canal but not everyone will. By not making bags available or charging for them the amount being produced and discarded falls dramatically. Good all round. Sadly the majority can't be relied upon to do the right thing, not a new concept.

And yes supermarkets are responsible for tonnes of waste and overpackaging, something they will have to address as we all become more savvy. But how does Tesco creating waste through overpackaging give you a moral right to create more waste (both of resources in creating the bags and disposal of them)?

Sorry but this has the same effect on me as childparking spaces/breast vs bottle has on other people. It's touched a nerve

YABU It is very easy to take your own bags. Rather than being rude they should charge for them-the one way to get people to change!

YANBU. Did you give her a lecture back on the vast amount of overpackaging/overlighting/overheating in the store? Did you point out that as you were stopping by the store via public transport on your way home from work you would be unlikely to be carrying bags with you? Are you expected to carry bags with you at all times? To work and back on the train? Or are you expected to have them in your not-very-green car that you drive in a not-very-green way to the not-very-green supermarket? The charging for carrier bags is a cynical money making PR exercise in lip service to a much greater problem. And is there not something slightly illogical in saying you carry them in your car all the time? The car is worse than the carrier bags!!!???? (Oh surely this should liven it up )

YANBU, they have no right to be rude.

A lot of this carrier bag stuff is propaganda to make it look like someone is doing something (and guess who the someone is)

Of course I totally believe that all carrier bags put in bins are collected by aliens who forcefeed them to polar bears and baby seals.

Oh and I've thought about it and I don't mind that there are tescos bags in landfill. If they take a long while to degrade I am ok with that. I am a patient kind of guy.

Agree with onager

I LOVE the environmentalists on these threads bleating about eeeeevil plastic bags and then says stuff like "Keep spare bags in your car"......