Paying for carrier bags.

Would have been more impressed if the onus had been on shops to provide eco friendly carriers rather than keep using the same old polythene ones but charging us for them. NOTE I have no problem with bringing my own bags for food shopping but really resent having to pay extra when I've bought clothes, underwear, shoes, china etc

Wellll......I take your point, FarNorth but I find it infuriating if I buy books in WHSmith, sometimes 3 or 4, so quite heavy, and I am asked if I want to pay for a carrier bag. I think if I am patronising their shop to that extent I should at least be given a carrier bag. Let them change to biodegradeable ones, why not?

PS Some of you ladies have made magnificent bags.

Because that is the legislation the government has chosen.

It seems that carrier bag use is down by 80% in the areas which have already started charging.
www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/17/scotland-plastic-bag-usage-falls-after-5p-charge-introduced

Do you (anyone who objects) really have to fork out 5p so often that it is a major problem for you?

Here's the up to date info on biodegradable bags and charging :

Super biodegradable bags
There are no exemptions for biodegradable bags at present. However, the government is considering an exemption to encourage development of a new, genuinely biodegradable, more environmentally friendly bag. This would be introduced as an amendment at a later date.
Defra has commissioned a review of existing industry standards for biodegradability of lightweight plastics. It will review whether there are standards that could be used to introduce an exemption from the charge and, if so, how the exemption would be carried out. Defra has to submit the report to Parliament by 5 October 2015.

I'm not sure how biodegradable the biodegradeable bags actually are or how much environmental damage is done manufacturing them. Surely anything that cuts down the number of plastic bags produced is a good thing? I rarely use them now but have a selection of cotton and hessian bags at home.

Actually I do object to 'forking out 5p'. The fact that I can afford it is not the point. Anyone else feel the same?

Not me.

Totally agree too much wastage but yes do feel certain foods ie liquids, meat, bleach (friend had top come off) should be packed it ads to cost of shop.

Bags should still be free for goods that can't be thrown into general bag and strictly policed. I washed all my reuse able bags they didn't survive too well, as read somewhere here they get full. Of bacteria.

Nobody needs to 'fork out' 5p. There are plenty of reusable bags on sale at reasonable prices and if you do have to buy one or two, fold them up small and keep them in your handbag. If they can manage it in Scotland and Wales, what on earth is wrong with England?

Missing the point by vey definition reuse able isn't nygenic for unwrapped food and certain items.

They are allowed to put unwrapped food into small bags.

"Small retailers don’t have to charge but can do so on a voluntary basis. You can avoid paying the charge either by reusing single use plastic carrier bags, or by using multi-use bags for life.

You also won’t pay a five pence charge if you’re using a paper bag, if you’re in transit, or if your bag only contains certain items, such as unwrapped food, raw meat and fish, prescription medicines, uncovered blades, seeds, bulbs and flowers, or live fish."
From www.gov.uk/government/publications/single-use-plastic-carrier-bags-why-were-introducing-the-charge/single-use-plastic-carrier-bags-why-were-introducing-the-charge

"the average household already has 40 plastic bags around the home" so that is an average of 40 bags that they can put into the car, the handbag and so on. That will cushion the transition for a while.

Live fish! Imagine carrying them loose in your handbag . . .

Free small bags.

What food is unwrapped nowadays, apart from fresh bread? Most food is packaged so thoroughly that it's almost impossible to get at it. M&S, which does charge for bags in England will put small amounts into a 'sandwich bag', or the nice man at the quick checkout does.

With this new charge imminent in England (at last!) I would have thought Morsbags would have had a new campaign but it seems to have tailed off.
[www.morsbags.com] will explain all in case you haven't heard of them.

They would seem to be very topical now but does anyone still make them? I'm going to be looking out some odd pieces of fabric to make half a dozen as even my miscellaneous collection of bags for life is looking the worse for wear.

Although I always take a bag when I go shopping, some things canbe a challenge! We happily paid for a suit carrier when DH bought a new suit recently.

x

If you shop in Tesco and take your own reusable bags you get extra club card points.
I carry a bag that fits into a small (3"x3") pocket that's attached to the bag in my hand bag. I have been refusing plastic bags in shops for months. If I'm buying a large item or clothes I won't object to paying for a bag, after all that only happens 3-4 times a year.
As has been said if your paying £xx what's another 5 or 10p

I always say (with a sweet old lady smile) "Did you put on the points for bag re-use", as they often forget.
Some cashiers in Tesco will tell you that you only get the extra points if it's Tesco bags that you are re-using.
That is not the case, so fix them with a steely stare and hold your ground. Those points are 1p each and worth getting before they are phased out!

Oh come on England! Stop moaning! We in N. Ireland have been bringing our own bags for years! M&S used us as a trial several years ago and it worked well. Just bring bags with you. Simples! It isn't that hard. Everyone does it here as a matter of course. Also in S. Ireland. And in France. Probably many other countries.

Well done to those of you making this a creative opportunity. Those bags look amazing!

I agree stop moaning about paying. It's very easy to buy your big shop bags and keep them in the car. They are about 50p I have had a collection of different stores offerings for years largely ALDI, ASDA and Tesco's.

I do like the occasional sortie into Waitrose with my ALDI bag.
obviously if you are buying loose veg they supply cheap bags to collect them in for weighing anyway.

Nandalot I also hate those so called biodegradeable bags. They are the Devils work. Those wretched tiny bits of plastic stick to everything.

Don't forget this starts today. I've been terrible this past week and keep forgetting to take my bags!

I wonder whether, with people carrying their own shopping bags round a store, there might be an increase in shoplifting. It could make it easier.

5p is too much. Bet it doesn't cost the shops that much. Profit will be made. Or will it be enforced charity giving, regardless of whether we would choose to support that particular charity or not?

The shops were only too happy to introduce the things way back when. They should take the burden now by going back to paper carriers.

It's bloody ridiculous. In my not at all humble opinion.

By the way I have carried my own nylon shopping bag with me for years now.

I'm the sort of person who starts with the very best of intentions. I collect my carrier bags and head off to the supermarket. I go through the checkout only to discover that I have either;

a) Left them in the car
b) Left them at work
c) Left them on the bottom of the stairs beside the front door where I put them so as not to forget them

I can't believe the stuff on some of the front pages of the newspapers today! 'Chaos looming', 'Union warns of attacks on shoppers against staff', 'People will find the bag charge too confusing'...

What a load of scaremongering! It went very smoothly in the rest of the UK, why should England be any different?

Most of the supermarkets have a recycling scheme anyway.