Ken's post in my grocery store thread made me think of this. No judgement @Ken Anderson. A couple of years ago the county I live in stopped using plastic grocery bags and paper are now 10 cents. I think Walmart has some kind of heavier plastic bag that's supposed to be re-usable and they may be 25 cents. People had minor anxiety over this but it's been interesting to see everyone adjust. One of my co-workers stated she was having fun watching what people were using at WINCO when this transition first happened. I see a lot of people with Trader Joe's bags because they are cheap. Myself, I was laughing because I had been using cloth bags for 10+ years at the time. I make my own and to my surprise have got a lot of compliments on them. I've even been asked if I sell them. I wouldn't. They are sturdy though and hold up to washings. I like the wash-ability. Re-usable bags have probably been around Europe longer I'm assuming. Thoughts? Anyone else using re-usable bags?
We still use plastic bags in our stores but they cost 5p.. or the reusable paper/linen type bags cost anywhere between 10p and 50p depending where you shop... there are more expensive ones than that too. They started compulsory charging for plastic carrier bags 2 years ago... and it has cut the sale of carrier bags by a staggering 80% and hence plastic bags clogging up our seas and oceans Most of the 5p carrier bags now are biodegradable ...but not every store is required by law to charge for a bag...only large supermarkets and stores or businesses who employ more than 250 people, that is not necessary 250 staff in one store, ...so in essence any small out of town stores who are part of a chain need to charge for plastic bags. A percentage of every carrier bag sold is given to charities and the estimation is that within 10 years around £7 million pounds will be raised from the sale of single use charity bags alone...that's a staggering amount. Supermarkets are permitted to give free single use carrier bags to a customer who is purchasing fresh meat or fish... In answer to your question, I use the reusable paper bags from the supermarket , as well as string bags..like these... I've also got a shopping trolley which would be useful if the supermarket was within walking distance ..but I have to drive to the supermarket so trying to lift a full heavy trolley in and out of the car is too difficult...so I rarely use it..
good post @Kitty Carmel. I have an abundance of those bags. I keep them stuffed in a bag in the trunk of my car but I haven't used one in some good while. Why? The sackers at all the stores fill them too full. I have told them on numerous occasions to not fill them so full and one of the hardest jobs I have is getting the groceries from the car to the kitchen cabinet. So, I get the give away lightweight plastic bags. They are easier for me to handle.
@Kitty Carmel ...I to have used my own bags for close to ten years. Kroger use to give you 5cents off for each bag of your own.Only keep maybe 3 plastic bags for use in trash cans.
I use the plastic grocery bags to bag things in that would otherwise smell up my garbage can, like empty cat food cans, so it's not as if they are simply discarded without another use. I also prefer to bring all of the groceries in in one trip, and that's pretty hard to do with reusable bags, but pretty easy to do with the plastic bags. I could easily live with paper bags, and often ask for them when I already have enough of the plastic ones. After all, I made paper grocery bags for a living for twelve years, they are made here in the United States from a renewable resource, and I can use them as compost bags, as I do boxes. When Portland, Maine passed a $.05 tax on grocery bags, quite a few people would drive to outlying cities to shop. I guess they pressured the surrounding cities to pass the same laws. I do know that I have spoken to several people in Millinocket who won't shop at the Save-a-Lot because they charge for grocery bags, enough so that they are not doing as well as the IGA did before it, and it went out of business. Generally, the Hannaford (literally across the street) will have a near-full parking lot while the Save-a-Lot has only a few cars in their parking lot. If they allowed people to use their empty shipping cartons (like Sams Club and BJs do), which they probably discard because I doubt that anyone recycles cardboard here, they'd probably get some of these customers.
@Ken Anderson This may sound gross but since I don't use the crisper drawers in my fridge, I keep a bag in there and put the one daily empty cat food can (fancy feast size) in an empty plastic bag and then take it out in the garbage once a week or so. I use either an empty bread bag or a bag I used for lunch all week. @Bill Boggs I'm with you on the bagging. I try to bag as fast as I can at Trader Joe's so I bag myself. WINCO is all self bagging and if I got to Safeway, Raley's, I usually go through the self check. Baggers can be awful. I've had cans put on tomatoes and one little bagger got snotty with me when I asked her to put all the cold items in the same bag. One health food store in town gives 5 cents back for each reusable bag or a 5 cent token. I take the token since one of the token boxes is for the humane society here. They always get my token.
I have some of those cloth bags but I always forget to use them. We have recycling bins that you can put plastic bags in to be recycled.
Lolo I hate to tell you this...many of the so called recylced bag stands at stores...goes in the trash just like everything else. I do use plastic bags for shrimp and fish waste..or things smelly. I frreze until trash pick up.
I go through two or three cans of cat food a day, sometimes more (since I no longer deny the old ones whatever they are willing to eat), so my plastic bags don't go to the waste empty.
I have wondered about that. They have us put plastic bottles, tin cans and cardboard in the same container at the dump. How do you suppose they separate it? It seems like the only way would be by hand. That doesn't seem very cost effective. I wonder if it's just a conspiracy to make us think we're doing our small part to save the planet?
Town governments would have us believe that we should recycle or separate our recyclables because that's the responsible thing to do. But as for them, they only recycle when there's a profit in it. We are supposed to separate plastics, newspaper, cardboard, glass, metal, and so on when we deposit our trash at the transfer station but when the price goes down on any one of them, to where they can't make a profit recycling, then they don't. I'd rather compost my cardboard and paper than haul it to the town transfer site, on my time and at my expense, so that they can sell it.
Not saying all stores, but I do know it happens..... everything is a conspiracy anymore .so it seems.
Going a little OT, but I too have wondered how much we put in the recycle bin actually does get recycled. I know most of the cash value things in California probably never make it to the recycling center because the divers come and go through the recycle bins and trash at my apartment complex.
I always buy a bag or two every single time I go shopping. I always forget to take my bags in with me. I don't pinch pennies that much although I don't throw money out the window either. Guess I could save some when grocery shopping but I don't...Ive never been thrifty. The cashier at Safeway once asked me what I do with all my plastic bags because I'm always buying them, lol I asked her how she knew...was there a record on me? She just said she sees me a lot. Guess I'm remarkable haha...or is the word memorable?