5p charge for plastic bags

[saundra]

now how will that work
it will be chaos
costomers at check outs will moan
and how will home deliverys work from tesco for instance
they put one item in a bag at times
i use my plastic bags to put rubbish in the wheelie bin

[Workingman]

Small shops are exempt. Biodegradable bags are exempt. And is 5p really a deterrent?

No harm in trying, but if it isn't working will it be reversed?

[TheOstrich]

And there are other consequences .....

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... permarkets

On a more serious note, I wonder if the big supermarkets will introduce USA-style brown paper bags (as McDonalds and KFC locally already provide)?

[Kaz]

I usually have a fold away bag in my handbag but often need carrier bags as well.................I reuse mine too Saundra, for rubbish or lining the waste paper basket in Mick's room or the little pedal bins in the bathrooms, so feel I already do my bit for recycling and saving the planet Having to pay for them is annoying

[debih]

I completely agree with it.

Shops have been encouraging us to stop using carrier bags for years now and it obviously isn't working. So if charging for them works, so be it.

I can't remember the last time I had a carrier bag from a supermarket.

[molly]

Marks and Spencer don't hand them out for food shopping, I think they charge 5p but if you buy clothes from them, no matter how tiny your purchase is, you get a free bag!!

In France they don't give them out, they just don't have them, not in the shops I use anyway. In Leclerc we always have to buy a box and that costs about 50p. I have so many Leclerc boxes you would not believe However, I often remember to take bags with me, something I would probably never do if they supplied them. We will all get used to it in the UK.

I actually dug out my old string bag the other day as I was going to Lidl. Trouble with it is that is keeps stretching, the more I put in, and ends up dragging along the ground.

[Kaz]

Marks and Spencer don't hand them out for food shopping, I think they charge 5p but if you buy clothes from them, no matter how tiny your purchase is, you get a free bag!!

That has occurred to me too.......

Debih call me a cynic but I don't think this will stop people from using carrier bags - they will moan and then get used to paying the couple of pence for them I expect I will...............

[Workingman]

I agree Kaz, when you have spent £50 on the weekly shop an extra 25p for five bags is nothing.

Either make the charge one that will make people think twice, or ban them altogether.

[cruiser2]

I have a large canvas bag bought from M&S several years ago. Keep two plastic bags in it when we go shopping. I refuse plastic bags at most shops even when we are doing a big shop at Asda or Aldi.

[Rodo]

Why don't people just carry a supply of carriers/bags with them? When I go for my big shop I take my large bundle of bags which I have been using and reusing for a couple of years. I also have an emergency fold-up one in my handbag which is with me always. I don't need any carrier bags.