Well what I do is buy one of those sturdy bags from LIDL, they cost 99p and they are fab, I use them for taking stuff to charity shops, stuff to the laundrette, there really is no need to keep picking up more and more plastic bags when you can buy bags for life.
Oxfam are banning plastic bags in their shops in the new year, well done to them for making a stand on this one.
This year for Christmas, I used gift bags that had been given to me last year, my mum is a teacher and she gets loads of gifts and also recycled the gift bags.
Any I have spare over Christmas I will recycle. Ive also started buying bin bags which themselves are degradable, its also important I think to look and see that there are different types of bin bags around, those that are made from recycled materials and those that degrade and they arent always the same thing.
Plastic also cause hazards to turtles, they get caught in them and can die, when bags end up in the sea. Last year I bought WWF bags which highlighted this issue.
If people do end up with too many bags most asdas and tescos now have somewhere at the entrance of the store where you can put the plastic bags in for recycling.
For me, one of the most eco friendly shops up here is scotmid which is a branch of the co op, not only are all their own brand cleaning and make up products BUAV approved their carrier bags are 100 per cent degradable.
We all have the power to make changes which help our environment and once you start making changes, it really isnt very hard to keep up.
P
My comment is more related to general shopping trips, not just the supermarkets. If I nipto town shopping, I tend to put things I buy at random shops all into one bag to save being laden down with multiple bags with small items in. I keep reusable bags in the car, but don't really know how many I might need, so when trotting about the town I might end up needing more than one - are they suggesting therefore, that it would be essential to buy a reusable cotton bag for one small purchase, where a tiny plastic bag would serve more use, as we've misjudged the trip we're making? This is the concern I am expressing. People need options, we don't always remember.
Reiki_Yorks - That was mean that they didn't take it away. In Germany - even back in the early 90s when I was there, people would take their reusable bags and boxes to the supermarket and even containers, then as they left, they would empty all their stuff into the reusable containers and dump the waste packaging in the shop in bins provided, and it was up to them to dispose and recycle all that was left.
I work in a shop as a relief manager, but I have to do my share on the checkouts because of the nature of the business. Anyway, It really bothers me beyond belief the number of people who will buy one small item and ask for a bag.
We sometimes sell wild bird feeders which are hooks and are far too big, but some people will ask for a bag for the bottom of it!
Can people who are coming to buy plants not keep some old sheet or towel in their car boot?
But its the people who ask for "a wee bag" that annoy me the most. There is just no need. The other day, a woman put her 3 year old son's bag of sweets on the counter and let the kid pay for them. At the end of the transaction the child asked for "a wee bag". This was both cute and alarming at the same time.
for a while now i have been carrying a bad it my handbag, and you know i still get some looks of the staff when i tell them to save that carrier bag i dont need it,one day i bought about half a dozen things from different shops they all fitted in to my one bag so there i saved six bags any i do get i use as doggy bags when we go out with the dog, but at the moment i have to go out and sort out what can be recylced out of the christmas rubbish i am sure i will get about two bags of rubbish for paper cardboard and glass not to mention the tins so i feel that it may only be a little bit i am doing but if we all did that the world would be a better place