5p charge for plastic bags

[Workingman]

Is it a generational thing?

I always carry a fold up bag - 60p in the market. It fits into its own little purse and is no bigger than a packet of ten cigarettes. My daughter, on the other hand, carries a shoulder bag with everything a girl needs....... except a carrier of some sort. She has the means and the room to carry a spare, but they don't appear to be "cool".

A cultural change might be more effective than a 5p charge.

[Kaz]

Oh I do have a fold up bag, in fact I have two - one is Sainsburys one is Tesco - and almost always have one or both in my handbag. Just sometimes I need more, or sometimes I might have forgotten, and I refuse to feel guilty about using a plastic carrier bag.

Charging for them, just pennies, will not stop people from using them, it will just up their profits

[JoM]

Oh I do have a fold up bag, in fact I have two - one is Sainsburys one is Tesco - and almost always have one or both in my handbag. Just sometimes I need more, or sometimes I might have forgotten, and I refuse to feel guilty about using a plastic carrier bag.

I keep a fold up one in my bag too, but like you often need more if I spot any offers or whatever. And not having a car means that I can't keep a supply in the boot - what I need has to be taken out with me and carried around until I need them.

I'm totally against this. WH Smiths already charge for carriers which is so wrong and I've actually asked for and received a refund on a rainy day when I spent over £20 in there on magazines, a birthday card and a book which was being given as a gift and was then expected to pay for a bag.

And looking at the Welsh government's guidelines, paper bags are also classed there as single use and not environmentally friendly.
http://www.carrierbagchargewales.gov.uk/consumers/?skip=1&lang=en

Clothes shop also have to charge in Wales.

The Welsh Government wants to drastically reduce the number of bags we give away in Wales. Since 1 October 2011 a 5p minimum bag charge has been placed on bags where you shop in Wales.
You can avoid the charge by taking your own bags with you when you go shopping.
Since 1 October 2011, the charge has been in place at all retail outlets – these include:
clothes stores
take aways
corner shops
market stalls.

[Workingman]

Wales says: You can avoid the charge by taking your own bags with you when you go shopping.

Absolutely correct, if you are "going shopping", and having one fold-up bag with you will cover most of the other occasions. However, there will always be times when neither case fits and more bags are needed.

I also take your point, Jo, about certain types of goods. If I buy books, magazines, clothes or larger items, I want some way of carrying and protecting them.

[Rodo]

I do my main shop at Aldi and we have always had to buy bags there, we are used to it. I have a large leather shopper and keep a vast selection of canvas and plastic carriers inside that one which I pick up and take with me when I go to do my shopping.

[Kaz]

I'm in the same boat as you Jo, as you know, and do all my shopping pretty much on foot. My MIL keeps loads of reusable ones in her car boot.........

[Osc]

I think it's a brilliant idea but 5p is far too little. We have paid for our plastic bags since 2002, the first country to impose this charge so far as I am aware. Our charge was 15c to start with and more recently went up to 22c. It really works, you very quickly get used to having a shopping bag with you when you go shopping, and most people have bags or boxes in their cars for the supermarket shop. Clothes shops all give paper bags which are easy to recycle. But it seems to me that your government is being too timid, 5p is no deterrent, they should have made the charge about 15p or 20p.

[victor]

well i reckon 50p a bag would really ake people take notice

[Dippytrout]

Didn't Tesco start this about 15 years ago But think it was if you brought your old plastic bags back you got a discount on your shopping, worked for a while and then all went pear shaped..................... the answer,of course, is for markets to stop supplying plastic bags and to only supply ''carriers for life'' or paper bags (which always break) but at least would be a start.

If there was no other choice people would have to conform........................not actually rocket science

DT

[meriad]

I totally and 100% agree with it. It's been going on for years and years in Germany (and I suspect a few other countries as well) and you soon get used to it. Whenever I go visit my mom or my sister there's always a stash of bags (held in another bag) either in the back of the car, the basket of the bicycle, by the front door; and it's habit to grab some when off to do the shopping.

Admittedly if you do have to pay for a bag then the quality of that bag is much sturdier and stronger than the average Sainsbury / Tesco / etc bag you get (it's more like the thicker M&S / Next bags). And I think you pay about 10cents per bag. Some shops also have paper bags for about 2cents

But yes, I totally agree with charging people money for the bags; hopefully then they won't be thrown away as much as they are and cause untold damage to the environment and nature.