No More "Paper or Plastic"...

[dandysmom]

Our Whole Foods market is doing away with plastic bags completely in all their stores effective on Earth Day. I think it's a cool idea; I carry a canvas tote when I shop, and recycle the ones that come with my biweekly Safeway delivery. Your thoughts...good idea?

[Mags]

It's good to see more and more stores, shops and markets doing away with the plastic bags. Sainsbury's here have had days when they give away free bioderadeable bags which hold twice as much as the normal plastic bag, with the hope that customers will use every time they shop. When the bags are too tatty or broken, they replace them with a new biodegradeable one. The trouble is many of the customers don't bother to use them

I think Marks & Spencers are now charging 5p for a bag too.

When exactly is Earth Day Eileen........ I've heard it's March the 22nd....also some are saying it's April 22nd.

[yola]

I think it's good - I have a hessian bag for small-scale shopping - you can really get lots into it , and a handy heavy-duty bottle carrier which will take 6 bottles; wine, oil, juice or whatever.

When I do a big, car shop I still have the plastic bags though - but I do reuse them for bits and peices around the house before I throw them away.

[dandysmom]

Originally Posted by Mags

It's good to see more and more stores, shops and markets doing away with the plastic bags. Sainsbury's here have had days when they give away free bioderadeable bags which hold twice as much as the normal plastic bag, with the hope that customers will use every time they shop. When the bags are too tatty or broken, they replace them with a new biodegradeable one. The trouble is many of the customers don't bother to use them

I think Marks & Spencers are now charging 5p for a bag too.

When exactly is Earth Day Eileen........ I've heard it's March the 22nd....also some are saying it's April 22nd.

It's April 22nd, Mags. Whole Foods is selling totes for 99 cents; they are made of mostly recycled stuff and hold lots of groceries. And they also deduct 5 cents from your total bill for each bag you bring. Biodegradable sounds great, wish our two big chains Safeway and Giant would do them......

[angieh]

I totally agree with encouraging folk to use hessian type bags. My mother always had canvas shopping bags which she took shopping with her in the days when you had to carry everything back home. I think we're coming through the bad days of disposable everythings and it's right that supermarkets should help to encourage people by handing out disposable or reusable or biodegradable bags and renewing them when they tear or the handles come off as it was the supermarkets in the first place that started the plastic bag epidemic. (Sorry if this seems like a bit of a rant!)

I have to admit that sometimes I get a plastic bag, but, like Yola, I always reuse it, even if it's just for wrapping cat litter in! If all plastic bags could be replaced with biodegradable, then that would be great!

Thanks for letting us know about Earth Day, Dandysmom -haven't seen anything about it here yet!

[dinahsmum]

It's amazing how quickly you get used to not using dozens of plastic bags. France phased out supermarket plastic bags several years ago and it's very easy to just ensure that you always have your hessian bags or recycled plastic or a box or a fold down plastic crate.
M&S are doing a pilot of charging 5p per bag in the SW of England.
I think some of the waste/landfill arguments are sometimes over -hyped but even reducing the amount of litter by reducing bag use is worthwhile. I hate to see shredded plastic bags hanging in the trees and hedges after high winds.
Lakeland are still selling old fashioned string bags which are super to just keep in a corner of your handbag or pocket, on those days you didn't expect to shop and come across an unexpected bargain.
Oh! and Tesco give you extra loyalty points for reusing bags.

[dinahsmum]

Here's another town trying to 'bin the bag' http://www.bbc.co.uk/dorset/content/..._feature.shtml

[alexgirl73]

Oh I cant wait for the day those nasty plastic bags are gone for good! Only thing they are good for is for emptying cat litter into lol.

[dinahsmum]

Originally Posted by alexgirl73

Oh I cant wait for the day those nasty plastic bags are gone for good! Only thing they are good for is for emptying cat litter into lol.

and picking up dog poop

[MrsH]

Years ago supermarkets used to have loads of cardboard boxes by the checkouts, what happens to them all now?

We always used to pack our shopping into a couple of large boxes and the children would happily play "pirates" in them while we were unpacking. A good, free toy to encourage imaginitive play!

Waitrose have been issuing "bags for life" for a few years now, they cost 10p and they replace them when unusable. But it's still a plastic bag isn't it?