It's a truly boring one! M&S carrier bags

[tobee]

Those new(ish) M&S carrier bags made out of stiff paper. They're good and strong and reusable.

But where the Jeff do you store them and how?

They take up so much space! Seems like a design flaw to me!

I find them infuriating - and if you’re shopping on a rainy day, they’re useless! (For storage, I fold them in half and put them inside a jute shopping bag. But I don’t have that many of them.)

I think you are supposed to reuse them so shouldn’t have a big pile of them at home? Agree with PP useless in the rain

I do try to reuse them which is why I keep them but even having 3 of them is a lot. I usually end up practicing my jujitsu on them to try to keep them in their place!

Keep them In The boot of the car?

I managed to cut my finger on the top of one of them the other day 🙁

They aren’t great with bottles of milk either.
It rains all the the time where I live, I hate the things.

Me too, it bled quite a bit and the woman on the checkout said it’s because the serrated edges have been made too sharp!

I hate them! They're shite! Put too much stuff in them and the handles break. Plus they are crap in the rain!

My cats like to play in them, so I suppose they are useful for something.

I hate them! Had too many paper cuts and agree they’re useless if it’s raining outside. You can’t pop them down while you open the car boot.

Paper bags are ridiculous. They still take energy and resources to process when they are recycled. And they often need to be due to rips and the rain. They may as well be made from material and fabric so that they can be reused if they want to be eco

Yeah I'm realising that I don't like them at all now reading this.

I imagine they've had feedback. But will they listen?

That's probably the best thing.

Now my long used plastic bag holder fabric bags hang empty

I don't trust their strength with anything other than lightweight items.

Paper bags are crap, I usually chuck them away pretty quickly. I mostly avoid being given them in the first place by taking my own bag with me, but on the odd occasion where I do end up being given one I admit that I do throw it out (in the recycling). I know that goes completely against the 're-use' idea but they are just not fit for purpose and are uncomfortable to carry.

Don’t eat me started on the Boots ones! 😡😂

I love the M&S ones, especially the Union Jack ones. I fold them flat and keep them in the car boot. I like the size and shape.

that said my water bottle leaked in one yesterday and the contents fell out in the hall. I will continue to use them but leave the water bottle out.

This. Paper recycling is incredibly energy intensive so I'm not convinced it's the 'green' solution for packaging and carrying groceries. Yes, it's not plastic, but it has it's own issues.

I avoid paper bags as much as possible because they're useless if they get wet, expensive to buy and take up a lot of space - you can't squash one up in a handbag like you can a plastic bag for life or fabric bag for example.

If I buy more things than I have a bag for, I tend to take a box off a shelf in the shop and use that, then either recycle the box at home or give it to the cats to play with.

Although I was told off for doing this in M&S not so long ago, something to do with not being trusted to recycle the box responsibly and if I fly tipped it (WTF!) M&S would be in trouble for not controlling their waste properly. But I took that to be a one off encounter with a well meaning but slightly dim jobsworth.

I agree on the bags, but not with your description of the M&S employee! I think their reasoning was sound, and, besides, the boxes are their property.

Fill it with groceries and donate to your local foodbank. They will reuse the bag for you.

Are these instead of their bags for life type bags or as well as?

I love the bags for life ones with the two handle lengths! I'll have to go in & see if they have any left. (I have been passing them on with things I'm giving people,)

I thought this thread was going to be about the designer bags that M&S sell - I've got a couple of the brightly coloured ones designed by Yinka Ilori, which I use all the time. I think they're made out of recycled PET bottles and have their own environmental challenges because they don't decompose - but they really are bags for life, so if it saves me buying loads of the cheapo ones, that's probably a good thing. They're selling them for £30 on Amazon 😱

I like them. I fold them flat and file them in my hall with the misdirected post and the Waitrose paper. It's not a plan it's just where they are.

Gosh I actually like them. And the boots ones! Mine just sit in the utility room and I get a fresh one every few weeks.

Never given a bag much thought before tbh!

Hate them. I hardly ever get them but have put them in the paper/card recycling bin

I just put them in the recycling. Nicer paper bags I keep as gift bags. I do take a shopping bag with me but sometimes buy more than will go in it.