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Original poster

Plastic carrier bags - Shock horror, I'm not against them

153 replies

mumtosam · 26/03/2008 11:44

I'd love to agree with the current line of thought that they're evil but I don't. So before we get rid of them / tax them to oblivion has anyone come up with a half decent alternative.

I'm happy to recycle - what the difference to me which dustbin I put my rubbish in.

My driving is enviromentally friendly -I drive a hybrid vehicle and walk plenty.

I reuse my carrier bags at home as bin liners so don't have any to take with me to the shops.

So please tell me why I should start paying 5-10p a bag.

OP posts:
dustystar · 26/03/2008 11:46

Don't buy them mumtosam. Buy strong bags that you can reuse for shopping time and time again that don't take so long to decompose when they eventually have to be thrown away.

No1ErmaBombeckfan · 26/03/2008 11:46

It is just another income generating wheeze ...

Unfortunately, like all tax, it is a bit of a scattergun approach and never reaches its intended target...

Oliveoil · 26/03/2008 11:50

buy reusable bags for life and take them to the shop

keep a fold up bag in your handbag then you will never need a carrier bag again

buy biodegradable bin liners

= no carrier bags

Dalrymps · 26/03/2008 11:50

Dunno but marks and spencer sell really cool net bags like the ones they used to use in neighbours! Maybe you could use bio degradable bin liners and the net bags at the shops? Then you'll feel like a real goodie goodie . Least, thats what i'm gonna do anyway, sorry it doesn't really answer your question but thought i'd write something so you didn't feel ignored.

Dalrymps · 26/03/2008 11:52

x posted, looks like everyone has the same idea lol

edam · 26/03/2008 11:53

I'm pissed off with the 'ban plastic bags' brigade. I walk to the supermarket where I get carrier bags made from recycled plastic. I then return any surplus bags to the supermarket for recycling.

Carrier bags are the perfect size and shape for taking shopping home on foot. Bags for life are too bloody big and distribute the shopping awkwardly - full they are too heavy, half-full and everything shifts around. I have bought one of those sturdy bags that folds up to keep in my handbag but again, it's too heavy when full so I have to take at least one carrier bag too.

I am doing NO harm to the environment at all. Yet MY life is being made difficult so people who are actually doing damage can feel smug. Makes me very cross.

dustystar · 26/03/2008 11:53

Aldi have always sold their carrier bags so I have been buying them from there for years until I decdied to buy their strong canvas ones instead. They are only 99p and are really big and strong. I own about 10 now (due to being a numpty and forgetting to bring them with me when shopping)

Furball · 26/03/2008 11:56

yes, don't know why they are now going to charge us for using carrier bags - they should charge the manufacturers who don't make degradable ones, nipping it all straight in the bud and forcing change at the top of the chain

Greyriverside · 26/03/2008 11:57

I had my doubts about the "plastic bags are the root of all evil" thing.

'Everyone knows' that get into the sea and kill fish/baby seals, but that turned out to be an urban myth.
'Everyones knows' there are thousands of them blowing around the countryside, but to me that just means we need to look at refuse collection. I don't know anyone who takes their bags out on a windy day and releases them.

It's probably not ideal to make them and throw them away after one use, but nearly everyone seem to resuse them for something anyway.

As for buying strong bags to reuse. The catch is you have to have them with you at all times. Otherwise you 'just pop into the supermarket' and have to pay.

oggsfrog · 26/03/2008 11:57

Reasons not to use plastic bags

MadameCh0let · 26/03/2008 11:58

Do they charge you for them in the UK?

We have to pay 22 cents for a plastic bag here. I am always forgetting to bring my bag for life to the shops, and I stagger out of the shop with a loaf of bread and a litre of milk held up with my jumper, and cheese slices in my pocket!!

MadameCh0let · 26/03/2008 12:00

But that's only when I do spontaneous shopping. When I plan to do a shop I just bring my cloth bags, no problem.

Apparently, the amount of plastic bags used in Ireland has been decimated.

That can't be a bad thing can it???

Furball · 26/03/2008 12:02

MadameCh0let - the last budget a few weeks ago, they announced all retailers to now charge for bags

oggsfrog · 26/03/2008 12:05

I have no problem at al with them charging for bags. I do however think that any bags offered should be biodegradable or paper.

dustystar · 26/03/2008 12:05

What you have to remember is that plastic bags were never really free in the first place. Supermarkets recoup their costs through the shopping. Thats why stores like Aldi have always charged for theirs - they don't have any of the frills etc of the big supermarkets in order to keep the costs of their products down.

The difference the ruling has made is that now when people have to pay for every plastic bag they use they are more likely to think about how many they are using.

VictorianSqualor · 26/03/2008 12:06

Reusing them as bin bags in the home isn't exactly recycling them is it

The amount of times I have seen people say this I don't see their train of thoguht, it is still plastic bags going in the bin whether they are full or not.

At least return them to the shop or reuse them as carrier bags, also it's not just throwing them away that's the issue, everytime you use one and put it in the bin another one needs making.

It's pretty simple not to use them and with the amount of shops doing either bag for life or cotton-type bags for shopping I'm amazed you need to ask for an alternative tbh.

There is also the hands idea, when you buy something you can carry in your hands, flipping carry it!

ChickenSoupDragon · 26/03/2008 12:10

I've just been to Toys R Us, TK Maxx, Ikea and Pets At Home and not used a single carrier bag. [preen]

If you can sew, you can easily make a cloth bag the same size and shape as a plastic carrier bag. I am toying with the idea of making loads of them from my fabric stash and selling them at the school summer fair.

ChickenSoupDragon · 26/03/2008 12:11

I've made a fab one out of fake giraffe print velvet so I can even look glam whilst being green

snowleopard · 26/03/2008 12:22

In that it's a waste to use something once and then bin it, it would be a good idea not to use so many of them and to recycle them. But I do think it's all a bit of a red herring. Unneccessary plastic packaging, and things like disposable drinks bottles, wastes/sends to landfill far, far, far more plastic. Plus I do wonder how many million squillion "green" stronger/re-usable/cloth bags are now being made and thrown away - especially when they are a fashion craze fgs! - and of course making more money for some capitalist somewhere.

I don't mind paying for them as I do try to remember to take some old ones or a shopper with me - if I forget I think it's fair enough to pay. But I do think the massive campaign against them is misdirected. Ban bottled water and install free public tap water supplies in shops and malls - that would be a much bigger step.

marmadukescarlet · 26/03/2008 12:25

Greyriverside, which part of your Marine Biology degree imformed you that it is a myth that sea turtles and sea mamals are not injured by plastic bags? What a convenient thing to believe.

Edam, yes these bags may be recycled and recycleable but they are made from petrochemicals (in the main) and use energy in both manufacture and recycling.

I think we should follow the Irish example and charge for them.

(I also would be happy with being charged for the amount collected by my fortnightly refuse service - we are a family of 4, including one nappy wearer, and we only fill our standard sized wheelie bin in 4 weeks - but that is a different thread.)

Furball · 26/03/2008 12:25

talking of other plastics - I was gobsmacked yesterday whenn BBC Breakfast announced some garden centres are having a plant pot amnesty - sounds great, OK they are being recycled but what is wrong with them being sterilised and given straight back at low cost to the plant surplier? apparently they need to be chipped down and made into new plant pots

ecoworrier · 26/03/2008 12:26

edam, you see I disagree all the way that carrier bags are the perfect size and shape for carrying shopping. I've always found them to be awkward to carry, they dig into your hands if they have anything much in them, and they can't bear a decent load. Not fit for purpose really.

Cloth bags and other re-usable bags by contrast are perfect, or at least you can find the perfect job for the task. So, for big shopping trips, like our weekly stock-up at the farm shop, we have 2 huge bags we bought from the farm shop. They will take a vast amount.

For all other shopping trips, we have a variety of bags and backpacks - some are for planned trips, others are lightweight and just to have with us in case we buy anything. Some will scrunch up into a coat pocket, others are more 'shaped'.

These days there are so many different bags around I'm surprised it's even an issue, even where I live (not exactly a trend-setting town), there are several different types of cloth, jute or hessian bags to buy.

ChickenSoupDragon · 26/03/2008 12:26

I guess bags are an easy target. It would be far more difficult to change the whole way the food is packaged (and yes, the waste is appalling! Our kerbside recycling scheme now takes cardboard and plastic bottles so that is a step in the right direction. Of course, not having the stuff in the first place would be better)

cockles · 26/03/2008 12:26

The fact is, people round here (east london) DO buy something and then immediately throw the bag in the gutter. Our trees are full of the bags as a result (why are they always blue?) and it is hideous. Yes people should stop doing that, but this is a perfectly simple way round it.

ChickenSoupDragon · 26/03/2008 12:27

furball, I assume that means that any broken pots can be reused as well as whole ones.