rskershaw

When buying the papers recently I've noticed the Daily Mail has launched a front page campaign to ban plastic carrier bags.

Today, Marks & Spencer have announced that they will charge five pence for a plastic bag, but only in its Food Halls.

Is it time for other retailers to follow suit?

We seem to be behind other European countries in prohibiting the handout of free plastic bags. Southern Ireland in particular stopped the practice some time ago.

I believe here in the U.K. that the only Council to ban their use is Brighton and Hove.

Any views and/or plastic bags in Brit Films? (poor attempt to make this relevant)

Fellwanderer

Simple answer - YES!

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

Mark O

I recall at one time you could pick up some cardboard boxes in most supermarkets to take your goods home in, where are they now?.........maybe supermarket owners think a pile of cardboard boxes looks too untidy, and cardboard is recyclable, most Councils collect from the doorstep.

I also think Coffee shops like Starbucks, etc; should give you a 'proper' cup if you're not taking your drink away from the premises, many do, but some still don't........maybe afraid of a bit of washing-up?!!

Mark

dremble wedge

They're all in Lidl, (who have been charging for plastic bags for years)

Mark O

Thanks for the info Dremble!........can't say I go in Lidl (or Netto!) I know the prices are good value, but they don't seem to have everything I'm after!

Mark

rskershaw

I remember a Kwik Save in Battersea always used to charge for bags. However, I think it was because the chain couldn't afford to give them away, rather than out of any Green commitments. It was eventually taken over by Somerfield.

I remember free cardboard boxes in supermarkets too. They where especially handy when moving from one student des res to another!

penfold

When I was a kid, Sainsbury's had good sturdy reusable, then recyclable, biodegradable paper carriers...why not go back?? Sourced from either recycled or sustainable plantations....

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

Steve Crook

ISTR most supermarkets stopped stacking them up for customer's use because "they are a fire risk"

But also check what the shelf stackers have on their pallets. Most things that used to come in boxes now seem to come on a cardboard platform which is then covered with plastic.

Steve

David Brent

Plastic bags are being phased out in Australia.
Shoppers are being encouraged to purchase special store "cooler" bags that can be bought for a few dollars.
The cashiers at most supermarkets over here pack your bags for you. Of course that can sometimes mean that your perishable fruit ends up underneath your cans and bottles but hey, it's a good service. Last time I was in England I noticed that you had to pack your own shopping at most supermarkets.

Dave.

Gazza

I do agree that the plastic bag issue needs dealing with but I get irritated that the onus is always on the consumer. The point about cardboard boxes is a valid one and no supermarket seems to consider the idea of recycled paper bags.

Where I live in Central London, people tend to live in small one-bedroom flats and use carriers as rubbish bags - we don't get wheelie bins. It's a serious consideration because we'll need to put our rubbish in something and we'll have to move to plastic bin liners unless there's an alternative. As usual though, it'll be our fault.

I also spend a bit of time in Belgium - the supermarkets there charge 3 cents (just under 2p) for bags but as far as I can see, it's profit for the supermarkets, getting money for something that was once free.

I applaud the charity aspect of M&S's decision.

Moor Larkin

I thought all these carrier bags had been made "bio-degradable" years ago?

Or is that last years trendy thing?

There is so much cobblers in all this, it's staggering that anyone pays the slightest attention to this eco-fascism. Wander round any store and every other product for sale is wrapped in useless, pointless plastic. People are buying their mashed potato and mince for a one meal microwave jobbie that probably weighs more in plastic pounds per usefulness than a hundred carrier bags. The only benefit this will have is for the importers of heavy duty shopping bags that will never degrade like a flimsy carrier bag does.

If people feel so strongly about the litter aspect, why don't they pick them up themselves, as they walk the streets and tell off all the numpties that just abandon them in the park, after they've ate their sausage sandwich in it's polycarbonate box.

My local council has spent zillions giving people big, heavy plastic compost bins and big, heavy plastic recycling boxes. I'm beginning to see these things abandoned outside houses and all bent and crushed on fly-tip sites. It's all bonkers.

I notice in American films, people always come home with paper shopper bags full of stuff. Why do we use plastic anyhow? Probably because it's cheaper.

DB7

Paper bags are thought to actually be no better than plastic eco-wise.
O Noes! Plastic Bags are Greener than Paper | EcoGeek | Bags, Plastic, Paper, Written, Bag

arctic

yes! yes! ban em! there are much better options :)

penfold

Long term, paper is better....recycleable, and biodegradable. Most plastic bags are not.

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

Moor Larkin

I seem to recall from A-Level chemistry that plastics are a mere by-product of the refining of oil, so whether you make bags or anything else out of the molecules, they will still exist in the world somewhere, as something. If everyone switched to paper, I expect we'd get an Easter Island effect and all the trees would be chopped down long before we'd had time to grow their replacements.