Great Carrier Bag Heist

[Bletchleyite]

I do my own shopping, hence me buying the bags from Amazon.

I think he meant the delivery charge charged (or included in the price) from Amazon.

 

[burneside]

I think he meant the delivery charge charged (or included in the price) from Amazon.

I realised I'd misunderstood the post so corrected it.
Amazon don't charge me delivery.

 

[alxndr]

At shops with self-service checkouts where they charge currently, you're asked to say how many you took.

That's relying on an awful lot of honesty. Even if challenged by a member of staff unless they see you physically take them there's no way of knowing if you brought them with you from a previous visit or took them that time.

Here's an interesting point - does anyone else object to the idea that the fee must be donated to a charity? I do support charity, but I am very strongly of the view that I will choose which ones, in my own time, with no pressure nor influence from others. I would rather the money went to paying for the bags, as presently, as Aldi etc are always quick to point out as they have always charged, that money goes on the price of goods.

I don't really care what they do with the money, although preferably that it goes to a worthy cause not just to line their pockets with on top of the money they make on everything else. If money was to go to charity then it would nice if a choice of charities was offered, even if it's just something similar to current choice of three given in a lot of supermarkets (where you pop a token in a box).

 

[jon0844]

At shops with self-service checkouts where they charge currently, you're asked to say how many you took.

Wow. Now you'll want to say you took as few as possible. When you got green points, you wanted to say you took as many as possible*.

* They checked. If you tried to say you'd used 100 bags, someone had to authorise it. Mind you, I was often tempted to use one bag per item and get more points.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That's relying on an awful lot of honesty. Even if challenged by a member of staff unless they see you physically take them there's no way of knowing if you brought them with you from a previous visit or took them that time.

Oh, I know. I'm just saying that's what they *do*, not that it's an overly effective way of doing it.

 

[richw]

Wow. Now you'll want to say you took as few as possible. When you got green points, you wanted to say you took as many as possible*.

* They checked. If you tried to say you'd used 100 bags, someone had to authorise it. Mind you, I was often tempted to use one bag per item and get more points.

When they gave green points you needed to say you took very few bags not as many as possible, but bought loads of your own.
A friend worked at Tesco some years ago, whenever she served me I normally ended up with around 20 green points per shop.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

They still do give green points for bag re-use.

 

[Bletchleyite]

They still do give green points for bag re-use.

Tesco have said clearly that this will be withdrawn on introduction of the charges.

 

[ttht]

I don't mind the charge, I think it's good to reuse bags now and then That said, I had to use my daughter's bright pink ergobag when I forgot some plastic bags and had to go shopping :/ The shame of a grown man carrying that around!

 

[Amberley54]

Tesco have said clearly that this will be withdrawn on introduction of the charges.

They have been withdrawn

 

[Tim R-T-C]

At shops with self-service checkouts where they charge currently, you're asked to say how many you took.

Here's an interesting point - does anyone else object to the idea that the fee must be donated to a charity? I do support charity, but I am very strongly of the view that I will choose which ones, in my own time, with no pressure nor influence from others. I would rather the money went to paying for the bags, as presently, as Aldi etc are always quick to point out as they have always charged, that money goes on the price of goods.

Many businesses make large charitable donations a few times a year - cynics might say for tax and PR purposes only, but I'm sure the charity doesn't care - so regardless of where they allocate the 5p, some of your spending will still go to charity outside of your control.

I think another factor in the charitable donation is that therr is no VAT paid - otherwise this would just be another real tax.

 

[AM9]

Well it's good to see that despite all the huffing and puffing by those who say that they won't change, plastic bag consumption in Scotland has fallen by 80% since controls were introduced there last year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-33644662

The number of plastic carrier bags handed out in stores was slashed by at least 650 million in the first year of Scotland’s 5p charge.

New figures released on the anniversary of its introduction indicate the levy has cut usage by around 80%, equivalent to 650 million fewer bags than in previous years.

The charge for single-use carriers has also raised around £6.7m for good causes in the past 12 months.

We can all now look forward to a similar result in England.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yes, despite 5p being inconsequential I now find myself defaulting to no bag.

 

[dcsprior]

This is undoubtedly a good news story, but I suspect it's not quite as good as it looks. I'd like to see more information such as:

Has single-use bag usage dropped more in supermarkets than non-food? If so the % reduction in amount of plastic used will be lower - I'd guess the average non-food bag is as thick as around 3 supermarket bags.

Have consumers tended to buy products that come packaged in such a way as to not need a separate bag, but which nonetheless use additional plastic?

What proportion of bags for life sit aren't used more than a few times? I know that on the rare occasions I end up in a shop without bags, I'll tend to pay 10p for a bag for life rather than 5p for a single use bag, but as I already have enough big sturdy bags for re-using, I'm don't really have much need for the smaller bags for life (beyond 1 or 2 of them to keep on me just in case) so they are in reality a single use bag consisting of a lot more plastic than a normal carrier.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I tended to use the single-use carrier bags as bin bags, and I know I wasn't alone; I'd love to see if sales of bin bags went up in Scotland.

 

[crispy1978]

I still love the awkwardness between cashier and customer when the question of "Can I get/Do you want a bag?" then the 5p button is nervously pressed!

I've never heard one person whilst I was in Lidl or Aldi complain over their 3p which had been there for - but on Sunday someone was kicking off about the charge to which someone quite rightly said "It's only 2p more than you probably paid 2 weeks ago" - all a bit comical!!

 

[AM9]

I tended to use the single-use carrier bags as bin bags, and I know I wasn't alone; I'd love to see if sales of bin bags went up in Scotland.

It may have done but probably the overall consumption of polythene bags has fallen as people are a bit more responsible with things that they have paid for.

 

[Techniquest]

I love the 5p thing, it makes work much easier. People actually generally remember their bags now, which is a miracle!

The amount of single use bags used these days is a very small percentage of what it was just a few weeks ago. It has been a godsend at weekends especially, and you only tend to get an average of 1 for every 8 customers needing bags now, the others have their Bags For Life etc.

Nervous-ness pressing the button on the till? Only the first time you do it, as you want to make sure you don't mess up!

Why couldn't we do this sooner, as in years ago? The whole retail industry could have saved so much money over the years!

 

[bb21]

The only problem I find now is that instead of packing my shopping while I go along (using hand scanners), I don't pack until I reach the till either because I forget to get the bags out or that I just find it easier in case a random check is required, and at the time I normally visit the shop, the self-service tills are closed so I go through normal checkouts more often than not. It will probably change in time but it is causing a lot of kerfuffle at the checkout for now (but I found Tesco staff always very patient at 2100hrs tbf).

 

[crispy1978]

Must admit, went to Sainsburys the other day and got a 5p bag which is also a bag for life.

Absolutely pummels Tesco's bags in to the ground!

And don't even start me on Poundland bags - I've seen stronger bags made from wet paint!

 

[WestCoast]

I love the 5p thing, it makes work much easier. People actually generally remember their bags now, which is a miracle!

When I served my sentence on the checkouts, the amount of people responding to my polite enquiry of "would you like a bag?" with some sarcastic or passive-aggressive comment to the effect of "no I'll just carry it on my head" made me fear for my sanity. I'd love to get my own back with "5p bag Sir for you, it's the law?"

 

[me123]

The only problem I find now is that instead of packing my shopping while I go along (using hand scanners), I don't pack until I reach the till either because I forget to get the bags out or that I just find it easier in case a random check is required, and at the time I normally visit the shop, the self-service tills are closed so I go through normal checkouts more often than not. It will probably change in time but it is causing a lot of kerfuffle at the checkout for now (but I found Tesco staff always very patient at 2100hrs tbf).

Certainly in Elgin and Coatbridge (which are, I must admit, the only two "big" Tesco's I've been to since the charge started here last year), they have bags for life at the entrance, so you can just scan them and take them around with you as you would normally.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Must admit, went to Sainsburys the other day and got a 5p bag which is also a bag for life.

The Sainsbury's bags are awesome - I wish that all supermarkets had followed suit in that regard. It's a decent quality bag that can be reused multiple times. Why anyone would waste money on a cheap Tesco flimsy bag nowadays is completely beyond me.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

When I served my sentence on the checkouts, the amount of people responding to my polite enquiry of "would you like a bag?" with some sarcastic or passive-aggressive comment to the effect of "no I'll just carry it on my head" made me fear for my sanity. I'd love to get my own back with "5p bag Sir for you, it's the law?"

Tell me about it. The number of taxi drivers at the petrol station where I used to work who insisted on a carrier bag for their newspapers (to carry them under the covered forecourt to their cab, where they'd probably subsequently be reading it) was unreal.

I also loved the old ladies who would try to "steal" as many bags as possible when they thought you weren't looking. Of course, they were free at that time so it was completely odd behaviour!

 

[bb21]

Certainly in Elgin and Coatbridge (which are, I must admit, the only two "big" Tesco's I've been to since the charge started here last year), they have bags for life at the entrance, so you can just scan them and take them around with you as you would normally.

We have them around here, but that does not solve the issue that I found it more convenient with the previous arrangement should a random check be performed, as the bags were more open. Now if I pack everything up and such a check is required, it will involve tipping much of my shopping out so they can be scanned and repacking them again.

Not a major issue but as I said before, a minor inconvenience, which meant that I prefer to pack at the checkout these days rather than as I go along.

 

[Techniquest]

I detest that thing in Tesco, it's more inconvenient than putting it through a checkout yourself. Only tried it once but it makes the choosing of your stuff that much longer that there's no time or effort saved.

I'm lucky I don't have to endure checkouts all day, being the multi-skilled retail genius that I am I do a bit of everything. When I am on there though now, if a customer has bags already I can keep my performance figures on there much higher than anyone else

One thing I have noticed is less people willing to be social when they come through checkouts now, which I find odd. I might always get a miserable bunch, but until October the ratio of social versus miserable customers has gone from an average of about 75/25 to 30/70. In my experience at least, your results may differ!

Not even saying hello back is just not acceptable in my eyes, if your mouth and ears are functional!

 

[tsr]

I couldn't help noticing in burger king outside Cardiff central, they have a piece of paper saying how much they raised by charging 5p for a paper bag... Most of the money raised was eaten up by 'compliance and admin costs'.

Nice little money maker, just claim the money as admin fees.

Still doesn't stop trains having empty bags left on.

On this railway note (and coming fairly late to the thread as I am) I have noticed fewer plastic bags left on even the grubbiest of trains that I encounter. This is a very good thing, as it means that there are fewer security checks to be made of bags which look stuffed full of something which turns out to be empty boxes or packets!

It also seems that wasteful plastic wrappers used for freebie magazines in newspapers might be slowly diminishing, which are another bugbear as nobody wants them, they get stuffed down the side of seats, and they have a nasty habit of attracting pools of tea/coffee/beer/worse which flick up in your face when you move them.

 

[me123]

We have them around here, but that does not solve the issue that I found it more convenient with the previous arrangement should a random check be performed, as the bags were more open. Now if I pack everything up and such a check is required, it will involve tipping much of my shopping out so they can be scanned and repacking them again.

? Surely you don't need to empty the bag for the operator to scan it, though? They just rummage through and pick out what they need and put it back. In my experience, they're quite good at picking a mix from the top and bottom of multiple bags. The bag itself can be scanned from the outside if you're buying it.

I always used my own bags on this (even before the charge), packing them as I go along, and I never once needed to empty my bags.

 

[maniacmartin]

? Surely you don't need to empty the bag for the operator to scan it, though? They just rummage through and pick out what they need and put it back. In my experience, they're quite good at picking a mix from the top and bottom of multiple bags. The bag itself can be scanned from the outside if you're buying it.

I always used my own bags on this (even before the charge), packing them as I go along, and I never once needed to empty my bags.

Some of the store staff around here insist on scanning lots of things towards the bottom of your bag

 

[me123]

Then that's fine. Still no need for you to empty your bag. If they insist on it, they can empty your bag and put it all back. To your specifications, of course.

 

[AM9]

Good to hear in today's news that the carrier bag charge has done exactly what it was intended to do. The public has changed its wasteful habits and new carrier bag usage has fallen 80%, just like it did in the other UK areas.
Now which environmental profligacy is next to cure?

 

[MidlandMainlie]

The 5p charge has certainly forced me to keep some reusable bags in the boot of my car for when I go shopping instead of getting an ever increasing number of carrier bags that I kept under the stairs but forgot to take with me to the supermarket each week.

What I do find annoying though us having to pay for plastic bags when I go clothes shopping, how long until most clothes retailers switch to using paper bags like Primark?