Is the supermarket plastic bag malarky getting a bit daft ?

Question

Hi Folks,

I am all for reducing plastic waste etc., but things, as purely a PR exercise within supermarkets have got a bit daft.

OK, I personally use my "fair-trade-unbleached-degradable" cotton bags. They are better to carry stuff anyway.

BUT

My local Co-Op have adopted a policy of hiding plastic bags under the check-outs. Oh, you can have as many as you wish, you just now have to ask for them.

This is daft.

Also, when around there this morning, I noticed that people were being issued with re & white plastic bags with "Happy Christmas" on them.

I giggled.

That I suppose is just getting rid of stock the are now embarrassed into doing.

Another thing I don't get, is that you can buy big cotton "trolley bags".

Fill one of those up, and it will take a fork-lift to get it to the car.

I am sure that the kitchen plastic bin liner manufacturers are happy, as that is how I was re-cycling supermarket bags.

Is it all just hype ?

Bob

Answer 1

It's not a PR exercise, instead of buying plastic bags to give away with shopping they are selling cotton bags.

They've actually cut their overheads and increased their profits.

And I also reuse my plastic shopping bags for rubbish, but I'm ever so grateful when a charity thinks of me and sticks a full size bin liner through my door.

Answer 2

Yes it's daft.    It's some people imposing their lifestyles on other people.

It's also purely for show - most people who use the plastic bags recycle them.

Why, I haven't bought a plastic trash bag in about five years.

I agree, companies get on the "green" bandwagon because it saves them money - those things aren't cheap when you consider the rising price of oil.     Restaurants do the same thing with paper napkins and glasses of water.    They're not "saving trees," they're cutting costs - in with respect to water, they're getting you to order another lemonade.

It's like diet meals - it's just less food at a higher price.

Answer 3

My local co-op has done the same, and when they produce them they are the tiny ones.  So they only hold a loaf of bread.

They dont seem to realise that someone using the smaller ones for a weekly shop is wasting so much more.

I also have bought many, many reusable bags.  Its just a shame that I keep forgetting to take them with me.

Give it two years, and they probably wont be handing them out at all.   Just think of the money they are saving, it costs 1,000s per month for these companies to provide bags.  That is the main driving force for jumping on this band wagon.  Not the environment.

Answer 4

yup!...daft is being nice!....now,understand me,I don't believe in just throwing them down..I feel they should be recycled in some way.....but anytime this type of envior-panic surfaces I'm always reminded of the visual on TV when they showed all the enviornmentalist whackos going to great lenth and $,to salvage a stranded seal or something(like it was worth 20K or something...then when the cresendo hit and they released it into the ocean,WHAM, a giant whale(or something)sucked it up for food!...they were so crushed..and I laughed so hard! It typified to what goofy lengths the huggers will go to redefine 'daft' as you say!...........peace!

Answer 5

You've not heard of the plastic 'soup' floating around between Japan and Hawaii then?  3 times the size of north America!

Nor seen a duck choking after swallowing one?

We should at the very least dispose of it properly.

I always re-use, recycle or use a cloth bag.

Answer 6

Yes - bags go to landfill in the cases where they are salvaged they are bagged up and shipped to china in bulk to be destroyed or recycled which polutes things over there so more al gore rubbish demand a bag

Answer 7

Well, I suppose to stop using plastic bags is a small step in the right direction, but not that much.  What gets to me most is that they keep asking all of us to do this and do that to save the environment, when the big boys (and other countries) ride roughshod and completely ignore the idea of recycling.

It`s like someone trying to save pennies, wnen someone else is wasting hundreds of pounds.

.........................................

I have maintained for a long time now that it is mainly the `rich` who are the biggest wasters of the planet`s resources...they have so much money they`ll throw out last year`s 3 piece suite, if it doesn`t match this years wallpaper!

These people can afford to keep their heating on all the time, fill their carboots with piles of shopping, run their gas-guzzling cars half a mile instead of walking and take several foreign holidays a year.

If this sounds like jealousy, believe me it is not.   I just believe this is what is happening - it `s not `do as I do, it`s do as I say`!

Answer 8

I'm amazed that you can still get free plastic bags in Britain. In most countries you've had to buy them for years, which makes you think twice about using them instead of bringing a car box or cloth bag.

The good thing is that the oil price is shooting up. Guess what plastic bags are made from ?

Answer 9

Oh my God the hype!!!!!!!!

I am looking for a bio-degradable, smoke free, vitamin packed, non toxic, global cooling, recycled string vest in which to purchase my weekly pallet of Special Brew.

And don't get me started on the ******* organic ********!

Answer 10

thats great....I have one that i use when i go to aldis cuz they charge for bags...with the food Lion bags i use them again for lunches and garbage so they dont get wasted...

Answer 11

This is more of a ploy to save some money.  They charge for the plastic bags in Europe.