A Sainsbury’s member of staff said I must be rich to spending 5p on a bag. I said it cost a lot more to drive to work. It casts me more than 5p in opportunity-costs in doing my own shopping. I can’t help feeling that there are too many unintended consequences regarding 5p bags.
Here is a list of some possible unintended consequences.
• Some hygiene issues: Customers will use less bags to separate meats from other foods. Reusable bags are less hygienic. The Extra resources needed for the NHS could wipe out any environmental benefits.
• You would have to use a reusable bag 100+ to recoup the cost, apparently. Cleaning them uses up resources too. In some cases, too much for it to be worthwhile.
• Extra security. Some supermarkets have put tags on their bags. Extra resource for security would wipe out any benefits.
• Extra resources needed for administration for the Government and the retail side. Building cost, commuting cost, energy utility bills, stationary cost etc.
I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
Re: I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
toomsie wrote:A Sainsbury’s member of staff said I must be rich to spending 5p on a bag. I said it cost a lot more to drive to work. It casts me more than 5p in opportunity-costs in doing my own shopping. I can’t help feeling that there are too many unintended consequences regarding 5p bags.
Here is a list of some possible unintended consequences.
• Some hygiene issues: Customers will use less bags to separate meats from other foods. Reusable bags are less hygienic. The Extra resources needed for the NHS could wipe out any environmental benefits.
• You would have to use a reusable bag 100+ to recoup the cost, apparently. Cleaning them uses up resources too. In some cases, too much for it to be worthwhile.
• Extra security. Some supermarkets have put tags on their bags. Extra resource for security would wipe out any benefits.
• Extra resources needed for administration for the Government and the retail side. Building cost, commuting cost, energy utility bills, stationary cost etc.
Any time I've bought meat, it comes pre-packaged. Even when fresh.
My fiancee has had the same reusable bags for years and they've never needed to be cleaned.
Which supermarkets have tagged their bags? I regularily visit Asda, Tesco, Iceland and some smaller ones. Never seen a security tag on lifetime bags.
Huh? The costs of delivering the bags to the retaillers and manufacture will all be the same as they were before the charges. The only difference now is that the charges deter people from wasting millions of plastic bags and the retaillers and gubbment get a financial boost from their sales.
Bill
“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx
It's a rich man whos children run to him when his pockets are empty.
“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx
It's a rich man whos children run to him when his pockets are empty.
Re: I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
We sometimes get plastic bags from shops. Free, because we use independent local shops.
Other than that, we must have half a dozen or more re-useable bags. Some plastic, some hessian. Oh, and we have a canvass one too.
Meat from a decent butcher is packed and sealed in a plastic bag, or if you go to supermarkets for meat (we would never buy meat from a supermarket!) it comes in shrink-wrapped sealed packs.
Other than that, we must have half a dozen or more re-useable bags. Some plastic, some hessian. Oh, and we have a canvass one too.
Meat from a decent butcher is packed and sealed in a plastic bag, or if you go to supermarkets for meat (we would never buy meat from a supermarket!) it comes in shrink-wrapped sealed packs.
Mick F. Cornwall
Re: I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
I use cloth bags and stick them in the washing machine now and again.
The greatest environmental cost of plastic bags is not the use of resources, but what happens to them after they have left the shop. Besides landfills, very many plastic bags end up in the oceans, where they are mistaken for jellyfish and consumed by other creatures, such as endangered sea turtles who die from eating them.
http://www.plasticoceans.net/
The greatest environmental cost of plastic bags is not the use of resources, but what happens to them after they have left the shop. Besides landfills, very many plastic bags end up in the oceans, where they are mistaken for jellyfish and consumed by other creatures, such as endangered sea turtles who die from eating them.
http://www.plasticoceans.net/
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
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fishfright
- Posts: 190
- Joined: 11 Feb 2014, 11:18am
Re: I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
Ive seen the exact opening post on loads of pages since the free bags thing happened and unsurprisingly i've yet to see a reply which agrees with it .
Re: I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
You forgot the extra 7g of CO2 you post on the topic and each of the reads and replies, generates. Charging for plastic bags is destroying the planet dontyaknow? 
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hubgearfreak
- Posts: 8212
- Joined: 7 Jan 2007, 4:14pm
Re: I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
toomsie...is climate change a myth and nuclear power the answer? 
Re: I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
Toomsie, yer havin a laugh aren't you? Perhaps you'd prefer no government at all, or no regulations - afterall, they all cost money don't they? 
The scheme is essentially self administering by the supermarkets. There's no bag tax to collect as the 'profit' goes to charity.
The scheme is essentially self administering by the supermarkets. There's no bag tax to collect as the 'profit' goes to charity.
Re: I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
I used them as bin bags, I am now running out of carrier bags, so I am going to have to go out and buy some bin bags, which the supermarket will profit from, thereby profiting from the 5p charge from which they aren't meant to profit from. Has anybody tried returning a 5p bag to the shop if it punctures or breaks on their way home, thus not being fit for purpose?
Re: I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
In Wales we have been paying for bags for ages now, and it has long since ceased to be an issue. The main benefit is a huge reduction in wind-blown bags stuck in hedgerows. For me, that, by itself justifies the 5p charge.
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Elizabethsdad
- Posts: 1158
- Joined: 15 Jan 2011, 7:09pm
Re: I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
<engaging smug mode> We were re-using our bags for years before this came along, so it hasn't been a personal problem. I have heard that shops are legally required to provide free bags for fresh meat products to keep them separate. We also have some bags for life which the shops claim they will replace for free. Haven't had to test this yet. The ones I most like are the orange ones from Sainsos with the elephant on them as they are big and strong.
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fishfright
- Posts: 190
- Joined: 11 Feb 2014, 11:18am
Re: I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
Postboxer wrote:I used them as bin bags, I am now running out of carrier bags, so I am going to have to go out and buy some bin bags, which the supermarket will profit from, thereby profiting from the 5p charge from which they aren't meant to profit from. Has anybody tried returning a 5p bag to the shop if it punctures or breaks on their way home, thus not being fit for purpose?
Yes, well ive returned bags several times at Sainsburys and Tescos they both gave me another one for free and no quibbling . Have you tried yet ?
Re: I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
First World Problem. Or rather, First World Whinge.
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Heltor Chasca
- Posts: 3016
- Joined: 30 Aug 2014, 8:18pm
- Location: Near Bath & The Mendips in Somerset
Re: I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
Bmblbzzz wrote:First World Problem. Or rather, First World Whinge.
[emoji106]Blasted things cause nowt but misery. And I've only got an iPhone 4s. [emoji6]
Re: I paid 5p for a bag on my commute to work.
fishfright wrote:Postboxer wrote:I used them as bin bags, I am now running out of carrier bags, so I am going to have to go out and buy some bin bags, which the supermarket will profit from, thereby profiting from the 5p charge from which they aren't meant to profit from. Has anybody tried returning a 5p bag to the shop if it punctures or breaks on their way home, thus not being fit for purpose?
Yes, well ive returned bags several times at Sainsburys and Tescos they both gave me another one for free and no quibbling . Have you tried yet ?
No, but I haven't been paying for bags that much and if I have, since the charge came in, I haven't had any problems with them. It would just be interesting to know if they would have to give you a replacement for free, if it broke in its single use, as it would then not be fit for purpose. Or maybe get a refund of the 5p if you just take the broken bag back.