Poly bags to be charged for

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fabindia
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Poly bags to be charged for

Post by fabindia »

Personally, I think it is a good idea but what about getting suppliers to cut down on packaging. Seems to me to be overly excessive at times.
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Re: Poly bags to be charged for

Post by wendy »

Rightly so to. The plastic is a menace everywhere.
Pet hate. Having to pick up the bio degradable dog poop amongst the plastic bottles and bags left around.
No problem with the poop picking [the story of my life] it is the litter around that is going to take many, many years to get rid of }hairout{
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Meanqueen
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Re: Poly bags to be charged for

Post by Meanqueen »

A good idea, but it's not going to happen until 2015. Why not immediately? Cloth shopping bags are easy to make, a sewing machine with minimal skills are all that is required.
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Re: Poly bags to be charged for

Post by saint-spoon »

I think that it is a good thing although, like has already been said, it should be happening sooner. I also believe that plastic packaging on food should be taxed to encourage less of that. We are treating our planet as if we have another one to go to. Perhaps a photo of one of your bags would be in order Ilona (we like photos on the lane).
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Panteg Produce
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Re: Poly bags to be charged for

Post by Panteg Produce »

Seems to have worked well here in Wales.

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redd_angel55
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Re: Poly bags to be charged for

Post by redd_angel55 »

Shops charged for plastic bags for as long as I can remember in Germany! I still use linen bags I bought 20yrs ago. I've always got my shopping bags in the car.
It always surprised me how much plastic is being used here in the UK! Plastic milk bottles, lemonade, coke ect ect ect! There really is no need for all this plastic!
We used to buy drinks in glass bottles in a crate. The first one you had to pay for, but got that money off the next one when you returned the empty crate with bottles.
I tend to leave lots of packages at the supermarkets. If we all did it, they would soon get the message, that we don't want or need it!
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Re: Poly bags to be charged for

Post by Maggie1 »

I must admit it took a bit of getting used to when we first moved here but I've got used to it now and carry cloth ones that go very small in my handbag so I don't get caught out. Plus I always keep large shopping bags in the car.
However when we was in UK last Asda were already charging in Wales. Even W H Smiths have been charging for ages.
They said on the news that the supermarkets are not going to pocket the money, its going to a recycle charities yea OK we believe you not.
Plus why wait 2 years
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lancashire lass
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Re: Poly bags to be charged for

Post by lancashire lass »

When Tescos were giving points for re-using bags/taking your own, I bought a few of the cloth ones as they were not that expensive 50p-£1 and had a lot of use out of them (they don't split when carrying pop bottles or tins) The only regret is that I didn't have a ready source of bags for putting rubbish in for the dust bin but having said that, with recycling bins now part of the norm, the amount of black bin waste has been cut down drastically ... I'm even thinking I don't need a full size bin anymore but it does have its uses when having a major clear out.

As like everyone else and for the same reasons, I'll be glad to see a massive reduction in plastic bags and packaging.

redd_angel55 wrote:We used to buy drinks in glass bottles in a crate. The first one you had to pay for, but got that money off the next one when you returned the empty crate with bottles


It was the same when I was growing up abroad. Also, instead of plastic bags, shops provided brown paper bags - if you went into department stores, they were pretty bags with coloured string/rope handles, or wrapped in brown paper and string (I especially remember comic books and magazines being rolled up and tied with string) It all sounds a bit old fashioned but back then, the bin rarely had package waste in it at all.

Maggie1 wrote:Plus why wait 2 years


Politics }hairout{ The only thing I can suggest is that if people wrote to their MP and suggested it was done much sooner. Also, don't forget there is an industry out there that would lose out ... much as we'd like to see the back of plastic generation, it will mean loss of jobs at a time when there are not that many around.
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Re: Poly bags to be charged for

Post by Maggie1 »

lancashire lass wrote:
Maggie1 wrote:Plus why wait 2 years


Politics }


Funny though isn't it if they want to put petrol up its done from midnight that night.
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Re: Poly bags to be charged for

Post by Stef »

I too have a range of hessian bags from various sources - they tend to shed so I also have a few I made from bits of fabric, old clothes etc. I keep my change purse and a notebook and pen in one and bout 3 in all in the boot. It took a while but I am now fully in the habit.

And I am sure I have posted before about my leaving all unecessary packaging in the bins at supermarkets - and the harangues I have received from customers and security guards.

I am waiting for the first time someone stops and joins in :-D
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Re: Poly bags to be charged for

Post by p.penn »

M&S already charge near me and I think it is a really good idea.

I use re-useable bags - small folding ones that are always with me 'in case' and bigger hessian dedicated ones, including a brilliant insulated one for chilled/frozen stuff. Having said that, my system is not 100% foolproof, and occasionally I need plastic ones, but I will know if I forget mine and have to pay then it's my fault!
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redd_angel55
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Re: Poly bags to be charged for

Post by redd_angel55 »

I heard they'll only be charging 5p per plastic bag?!
Personally, I don't think that's enough! Such a small charge is not going to make such a huge difference to a lot of people and I am sure many will still use/buy them.
I think 50p would make shoppers think twice!
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Re: Poly bags to be charged for

Post by Kernow »

The plastic carrier bag levy in Southern Ireland is 22¢ which is about 19 of your English pence.
Very rare to see anyone with a plastic carrier bag unless it's a reuseable one.

I did see once on an Irish forum how to make a shopping bag from a chicken feed bag. I will try to find it as it may be of use to all the chicken fanciers on here.
Last edited by Kernow on 15 Sep 2013, 20:41, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Poly bags to be charged for

Post by Kernow »

It's not an Irish site but it may help

http://communitychickens.blogspot.com/2 ... -tote.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: Poly bags to be charged for

Post by jannie »

It's coming up to the second anniversary of the charge being introduced in Wales and it has made an enormous difference to the amount of litter flying around. Even the youngsters picnicking in the wood take their litter home now .. probably because their mums shout at them as they're leaving to bring the bag they've had to pay for home with them. :-D

I did think it would be hard to remember to take shopping bags with me every time I went to the supermarket even though I tried not to use plastic bags anyway, but it only took a couple of times of arriving at the checkout without them for it to become second nature to take them with me. I also keep some extra bags in the car in case it doesn't all fit in the bags I take with me then I just pile it on top of the trolley and pack them when I get back to the car.
I was in a supermarket in Derby earlier this year and the checkout operator threw a handful of carrier bags on top of my shopping ..I quickly added up how much she was going to charge and threw them back, the poor girl thought I was mad till I explained that we had to pay for them in Wales! {rofwl}

I really don't understand why it has to take another 2 years to implement the charge in England ..all the supermarkets already have the charge on their systems from operating in Wales. :?
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