M&s want to charge 5p for every plastic bag they give you , what is wrong with paper as in the states etc?

Question

M&s want to charge 5p for every plastic bag they give you , what is wrong with paper as in the states etc?

Answer 1

It makes them look good in the press and they make a little bit more money.

Paper bags in the U.S. has become rare.   It's almost always small, thin plastic bags.     One paper bag of groceries takes about ten plastic bags by the time you double bag some of the contents.

It's not going to do one practical thing for the environment.  They might as well charge 5 p per speech in the House of Commons for controlling green house emissions:  It's all hot air.

Answer 2

paper bags rip quite easily, and arent much cop if they get wet though are they

Answer 3

Paper bags recycling would leave, a larger carbon footprint and defeat the object.

Answer 4

They can't charge 5p for paper?

Answer 5

Your question suggests you live outside the US.  Places like California are having problems in their garbage dumps of plastic not disintegrating quickly so they banned plastic.  Here the grocery store is promoting "green bags" which are propylene bags made in china, which have handles and are reusable.  

Brown bags have been used since before the 1950's and have many uses after they are used to carry the groceries in (we used to cover our school books with the brown bag, used it for drawing paper (for kids), put old rags and paintbrushes in them, stored nails, covered packaged for mailing, etc.)  Here at the apartments they still require double bagging used sand in plastic that we place in the garbage cans).  Why not suggest to the manager of m&s that they ask the customer if they want the plastic or brown bag (give them the choice).

Answer 6

paper bags rip or go to mulch when wet so cannot be reused much but can be recycled.....

plastic bags can be rused many times and can be recycled at most supermarkets now so seems to be the better option but people need to get into the habit of reusing and minimising how many they use.

think...reusing them is much better than recycling them after the first use!!!!! get more out of one product people and stop the throw away society

Answer 7

The problem is that people do not like to carry there bags back to cars etc, a paper bag unless made of reinforced carboard / paper will not carry the weight of goods, nor have handles for ease of use, this is then un recyclable to most councils.  Some carrier bags are recyclable and most of the bigger supermarkets will have a point to reclaim any plastic bags.  Most large Supermarkets used to charge a few pence for bags in the past, it was not until the mid 80's that bags became free and widespread use developed.  If the supermarket charges 5p per bag, try bying one of the collapsable small fabric bags that are availiable, my wife carries 2 in her handbag all the time as she never knows when she is going to get the shopping bug.

Answer 8

Only a small proportion of people take their used plastic bags back to the store for the on-site recycle bin; most end up in landfill.

I wonder why the idea of free carrier bags ever came in - I like a few each week to use as pedal bin liners, (although when I was first married 49 years ago, the waste bucket had no liner and was just rinsed out whenever it was emptied into the dust bin) but for the first 30 years of my married life, everyone took their own fabric bags when shopping - I still do, but now use the folding ones which slip into a large handbag.  No worries about handles or bag breaking.  It's really no big deal, honestly.

Answer 9

Probably no money to be made from paper bags.

Answer 10

M&S are just taking the mickey out of their customers.  How would they feel about US charging THEM for advertising their products?

Maybe we should reuse our Tesco or Asda bags when buying items at M&S.

Bl**dy cheek.

Answer 11

Are M&S saying that the 400.000,000 plastic bags they provide annually to take away goods sold by them are FREE & that no provision is made to cover the cost in their retail prices ?

Answer 12

Britain is the only Country in the EU that doesn't charge for the carrier bags. And also M&S said they would be using the money to help maintain parks and green areas etc. Though I will believe that when I see it.

Answer 13

Nothing looks dumber to me than the American movies showing people with their arms wrapped round huge paper bags after a trip to the supermarket.

Why would anyone be so daft as to put everything in a paper bag which has no handles so is difficult to carry and will collapse into mush when it gets rained on?

Answer 14

RIGHT STOP!!!

I work in the importation of carrier bags in the UK.

PAPER BAGS TAKE 5 times MORE ENERGY  than carriers bags to produce.

The carrier bag itself is already a recycled product.  It is made form the GAS that is burnt off that used to go offinto the atmosphere!  so its already being recyled when its made first time around, then the carrier bag can be reused and reused and reused! that is what we need to!  REDUCE the amount we use and RECYCLE  the bags and not throw them away!  it makes me soooo mad when people slam the carrier bag! the carrier bag CAN be recycled, why not start to slam the plastic companies that make plastic bottle sna upghurt pots and shmpoo bottles that CAN NOT be recycled and get them to make them out of differeent materials so they can be recycled.

They also are trying to get bag compostable bags. so that they can  "degrade" in your compost bin.. but they are VERY expensive to make, and you can only put 1 in your compost bin a weeek for it to be effetive, and even then they recomend that you "cut it up into smaller pieces"

Some posted a comment on an earlier question saying that they has a carrier bag on top of their cupboard that they forgot about , and when they touched it it crumbled! that is rubbish too, the carrier bag wouldnt just crumble a degradble bag takes years to degrade-- Tesco say their bags are degradable! - yes  they are but they may take 100's  of years everything  degrades eventually!!

Answer 15

Both paper and plastic bags are as bad as each other. Are people that lazy that they cannot learn how to reuse bags? I reuse all the time in supermarkets it makes sense. Charging 5p for a  bad doesn't stop the harmful processes used to make the bag in the first place.

Answer 16

Charging money no matter how little discourages people from using plastic bags which are absolutely horrid for the enviroment.  Brown paper bags are not bad for the enviroment the only draw back is the trees that have to be sacrificed to make the paper bag.  A reusable bag is the best choice and many grocery and department stores e.g. Walmart, Zellers are making them available.  But if you don't buy and use the reusable ones, then paper is the next best choice.  Stay away from plastic!!

Answer 17

I don't mind paying 5p, for a plastic carrier, but I WILL insist on a plain bag, as I feel it is a cheek to charge me for walking around advertising their stores. Years ago, all bags were made of paper, and I remember the trouble they caused when trying to get your shopping home, as the handles broke, spilling the contents everywhere. However, most people have cars these day's, and getting your shopping from the car to the house, is no longer a problem for most of us, and I think they should re-introduce them for a trial period.

I work in a small supermarket, My boss pays £5-00 a thousand for plastic carriers, and people do not realise that we have to pay for them too. I go to a shop to purchase goods, and my boss is in the buisness to make a profit. My argument to customers is, why should they have a plastic carrier free, when everything else they come in to buy, has to be paid for. After all, why should they get bags free, when the boss has to pay for them to start with???

Answer 18

Paper will not necessarily be recycled by the public any more than plastic bags. The point is to stop people using the bags, not just change the material. 5p is a ridiculous amount though. I do think that changing to paper might help as it's easier to recycle, but the problem remains as to whether people will bother.

Answer 19

Trees have to be felled to make paper and we are destroying the rain forests at a terrifying rate.  I think biodegradable bags are the answer.

Answer 20

example of a big corporation profiting from being "environmentally friendly"

Answer 21

M&S have a very traditional customer base, I think this will hurt them financially

Answer 22

I thought you could recyle plastic bags too though? Theres a big bin thing at my asda for old plastic bags to recycle, or maybe their to be re-used as bags? I forget

Answer 23

I don't know, they say plastic bags are a problem, but if we had paper bags at least we could recycle them