should stores charge for plastic bags?

[MrBern]

saving the environment a nickel at a time

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17261826/from/RS.4/

 

[photobyalan]

Charge for plastic?

Absolutely! Especially since the aim of charging for them is to eliminate them altogether.

By themselves, plastic bags are almost worthless for groceries unless you enjoy having your cans rolling all over the car on the way home. It normally takes four plastic bags to carry what would fit in one paper bag. Fragile items like bread or chips get crushed because you can't put things on the top in a plastic bag - the damned things don't have an "up", they just slouch.

Plastic bags don't break down quickly in the environment. You can't use plastic bags to drain fried foods or cover your school books. Plastic bags don't make good headgear when your team is losing.

Plastic is only good for reinforcing paper bags, especially in Chinese food deliveries when there is danger of grease bleeding through the paper.

Give me the heavy, handled paper bags that Trader Joe's uses. They will take almost any load you put in them.

 

[Lady Day]

:eusa_clap
PERFECT sentiment, photobyalan

Plastic bags are only good for picking up my doggie's poop. Even then, you can use newspaper (and I have).

Some stores here in the citay, give you a 'bag credit' (5 cents generally) if you bring your own, and some places sell reusable bags at the checkout counters. Heavens knows Id be lost without my green Whole Foods bags

LD

 

[Elaina]

What about those of us that bring a copious amount of them back for recycling?

And should you be charged at stores that force you into using the plastic ones anyway, even if you bring your own, who don't have paper available (like Wal-Mart? Store policy states that you have to have them in an "approved" bag.)

 

[Mr. 'H']

We have been paying a government levy of 15 cent here for the last few years on plastic bags. There are much less plastic bags in bushes and trees now.

The stores here still don't offer paper bags though - it is frustrating, they'd prefer to not have to make them, and charge for the plastic ones. Most people now bring their own re-usable bags.

 

[Mr. 'H']

Absolutely! Especially since the aim of charging for them is to eliminate them altogether.

By themselves, plastic bags are almost worthless for groceries unless you enjoy having your cans rolling all over the car on the way home. It normally takes four plastic bags to carry what would fit in one paper bag. Fragile items like bread or chips get crushed because you can't put things on the top in a plastic bag - the damned things don't have an "up", they just slouch.

Plastic bags don't break down quickly in the environment. You can't use plastic bags to drain fried foods or cover your school books. Plastic bags don't make good headgear when your team is losing.

Plastic is only good for reinforcing paper bags, especially in Chinese food deliveries when there is danger of grease bleeding through the paper.

Give me the heavy, handled paper bags that Trader Joe's uses. They will take almost any load you put in them.

I totally agree! Paper is so much better.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Given a choice between a store providing plastic or paper bags, paper (with the handles) wins for me anyday. They hold more, don't break as easily, etc.

However, the idea of stores charging for plastic bags as an incentive for customers not using them strikes me as counter-productive. Isn't the whole idea of store-provided bags to be a convenience to the customer? Obviously the customer pays for the bags in some sense as their cost is included fractionally in the price of the merchandise. But this cost is certainly less than 5 cents per bag.

I certainly don't want to have to deal with lugging reusable bags everywhere I go. If I lived in a city where I walked frequently to the grocery store on a routine basis, reusable bags would make perfect sense. However, as someone who shops irregularly and always with a car, it is much more convenient to use the store's bags. To be charged for their use would just be a disincentive for me to shop at any store with that policy.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Just thought it would be worth mentioning...

The story is about IKEA....which does not sell groceries, rather housewares and furniture.

They do not offer paper bags.

So this particular news clip is about a bring your own or pay the fee......no option to switch to a different kind at the store.

Somewhat a different thing then a grocery store..

 

[Elaina]

And the inconvience of trying to deal with bringinging my own bag, a purse, a kid and a spouse will cause me not to shop there. I already have too much junk I have to cart around.

I recycle, but when they make it difficult on me to shop and get anything, then I really don't need their product. I don't get a lot of things from Ikea (and to be honest, it will be even less now) but what I get is a lot of small things. And I don't think I should be financialy punished FOR rcycling the bags either. Aside from groceries (of which about half are delivered anyway), most of my purchases are done on the internet, and this idea of nickle and diming the consumers to death is going to result in a lot more people spending virtually rather then in person. It's less hassle. And if I'm going to be suckered for small change (like shipping and handling), then I want it delivered to my doorstep. If they start doing this to my groceries in a month, I'm looking at an extra 3-5 bucks I'd rather tip to a delivery driver.

Funny thing is, order anything from Ikea, and you're going to get so much paper garbage this is kind of petty.

 

[Feraud]

So this particular news clip is about a bring your own or pay the fee......no option to switch to a different kind at the store.

No thanks! I will take option 3. Shop somewhere ele.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I used to go with the plastic bags because i reuse them as bin bags. but now all the plastic bags have holes in the bottom so some moron unattended child doesn't suffocate themselves and now they're useless for bin bags.

We get a 5 cent bag credit at Marsh. So now i take a ruck sack whenever i go shopping and don't support the petrochemical or lumberjacking industries and i save some money. Strike two for saving the environment!

bk

 

[Miss Neecerie]

No thanks! I will take option 3. Shop somewhere ele.

I was merely stating that the article is not about a 'paper bags also available' Grocery type store.

 

[Feraud]

I know what you mean MissN-. My comment is towards Ikea. I am all for businesses that are doing their small part to help the environment. The article stated IKEA is going to stop giving away "free" plastic bags but does not say what they are replacing it with.
Should we pay an additional fee to carry our paid purchases in or buy their reusable bag?
Not I.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

but why should you get a free bag in the first place?

bk

 

[Elaina]

It's a courtesy, and the prices are alreay over inflated.

McDonald's is pushing the McGriddles hard and heavy. Why? Because they cost (for the whopper egg, cheese and sausage) 1.2 cents. I think out of my $2.19 to purchase that snadwich, I PAID for the bag already. Same thing with any other store. It's built into the cost of the product you do purchase for upkeep or the store, loss, theft and things to cart the products away in.

 

[Feraud]

but why should you get a free bag in the first place?

bk

My assumption is (I could be totally wrong here) when I purchase something from a business I should be able to carry it home. It could be a dozen cds, cold cuts, eggs, apples, etc. Is this an American peculiarity? I don't know. I agree we should all be conscientious enough to re-use bags, and bring our own when possible.
I understand how a paper bag is a courtesy by the store. My family owned a small business and I have seen both sides of the situation. It costs a business money to give away free bags, straws, and napkins. To me it makes better business sense to spend the cost of a bag to keep a customer.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I understand that it is done - and is done in every country i've been in. Hell, a snack i bought halfway up a Himalaya came in a small bag. The question is: "for the good of the environment, is it time to start expecting people to have a little foresight and bring a bag with them?"

bk

 

[Feraud]

The question is: "for the good of the environment, is it time to start expecting people to have a little foresight and bring a bag with them?"

bk

The answer to that is absolutely!
My slant on environmental responsiblility is corporations do more damage and are the leaders in irresponsible behavior. The obligation (and guilt) is put on the rest of us to recycle, exercise, eat right, save the spotted owl, etc.
I know, I know, this is getting off topic!

 

[Elaina]

To me that's not the question at all. In the course of a day, I'm lucky I remember where I parked the car, that the little diabetic girl in the neighboorhood gets the right cookies, that I got my kid from school on time, that I worked enough hours in the day and that I didn't kill anyone. My life is fairly hectic, and if it goes to forced into the whole bag issue, I will never remember to bring my own. I have several cute little bags I got for groceries that I use as recycle bags because I never remember to take them back to the car.

I agree, we need to cut down on waste. Every bag I looked at right before I posted say they're made from recycled products. But where's the line? You have a business making more of a profit under the guise of social responsibility. If they were donating that cost, it would be a different subject, but just to charge more then the bag costs them smacks of profit, not environmentalism.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

If they were donating that cost, it would be a different subject, but just to charge more then the bag costs them smacks of profit, not environmentalism.

Actually...they are donating the profit.


Excerpt from the original link's article:

The company said it will also cut the price of reusable bags to 59 cents from 99 cents to encourage their use. The program will begin on March 15 at the company's 29 U.S. stores and the money from bag sales will go to American Forests, a conservation group.