Plastic Bags

[Andy Hamilton]

I'll see what I can find out about potential cost.

So far teh best quotes are looking at the £2 mark, if you can get cheaper then let me know.

[Lyds]

Do lets have some selfsufficientish cloth bags, the sort you can fold up and stuff in a pocket. The everlasting ones I purchased at Sainsbury (75p) are quite bulky and I dont always want to take my basket due to daughter pressure (see previous post by me....). Anyway, go for it and I'll buy some and give some away

[sunpuppy]

Yep, I'd definitely be interested in buying re-usable selfsufficientish cloth bags too.....

[Lyds]

Any news on the Selfsufficientish cloth bags yet Andy? I'm still keen and I'm sure you will get plenty of people eager to buy.

[greenbean]

Yes, come on Andy, let's get these SS bags onto the market. I have some from the healthy house dot com that are very good, but I need some more. How did you get on with Mike Pringle? He sent me a reply to my private email to him saying that it as going to be readdressed, can't recall the outcome, I imagine it's still under debate.

[Chickenlady]

I still like the idea of a pull along trolley! I used to have one when I was young free and single. The supermarket was 5 mins up the road so I wasn't going to take my car. I didn't care that I was uncool!

There used to be a women I would see around town who had a wicker basket on wheels and used to have her pet parrot perched on top. I think I may aim for this level of eccentricity! Can we have a selfsufficientish trolley please?

[ina]

Handwoven from locally grown willow, of course... And I suggest a hen instead of the parrot! With a small "egg compartment" right under her behind!

Ina

[SUPEwoman]

The replies to this subject are fascinating! I can walk into town from home and always take my haversack, my kids pull a face too! Then the lady on the till asks "Are you OK with your packing?". Even though I say "Yes", I still end up emptying the carrier bags she's filled.

I have a selection of strong carrier bags which I take on my weekly shop. Any spare, thinner ones go back the following week to the recycling bin. I seem to remember T***o trying out a plastic box scheme. Customers could purchase these strong boxes (like the stackable toy boxes widely available) and there were specially designed trolleys to sit these in. The idea being to lift these straight into the car and then home. I assume it didn't work, maybe due to the weight when the were full or storage problems at home? I don't know.

My mum (WI member) had a cloth bag with the WI logo printed on. She made some herself by sewing the logo on and sold them for WI funds. Apparently they go like hot cakes, is it an age thing?

[ina]

Actually, I seem to detect a slight positive development... The looks I get when I bark at the checkout staff "NO BAGS" aren't quite as funny as they used to be. And in my local shops they mostly know by now; they might still grab the bag out of habit, but then they look at me and say "sorry, I know you've got your own". Well, we might be getting there, slowly, slowly.
(There are definitely more cyclists on the roads, too - maybe another sign of the same development?)

Ina

[Lyds]

Ina, you could be right about a change of attitude. My local woolies now ask "would you like a bag" instead of just shoving the goods in one anyway. In some shops it depends on the age of the staff, the older ones can see I have a basket on my arm, the young ones have no idea why I'm carrying it!

[Guest]

I use a set of string bags. Feels good each time I reject the supply of plastic bags at the counter. First I get strange looks. Now people ask me where I got those from.

[Sue]

My teenager gets embarrassed at me arguing with stall holders on markets that I REALLY don't need a bag
T***o staff start packing without you noticing (which I suppose I shouldn't grumble about but I have to whisk my reusable bags to them)
One idea I have used alot, and I'm not alone at Aldi as I see others doing similar now (and on the beach believe it or not)
Buy HUGE ikea bag (50p) they fit in the trolley, in the car boot and are REALLY strong - even used it to take rubble to the tip
T***o and charity stores are the only ones I know of who also employ staff with "special needs" (hate that expression) so sometimes I don't wish to confuse them as they feel they have done something wrong if I ask for no bags - so those bags are used as bin bags
I recall supermarkets charging for bags - then getting "user friendly" by giving them free - its just a fashion - if we refuse them often enough, they may change back again. I think they should start charging again (no tax please) It only takes one to start a trend, let it be us!

[Guest]

I think we should ask for some money back when we use our own bags.

[ina]

Sainsbury's used to do that, gave me a penny or two for each bag - but quite a few of the staff didn't seem to be bothered and probably thought I didn't care anyway. They've long stopped doing it.

Amusing thing in the farmshop yesterday - although that woman there acknowledged with pleasure the fact that I brought my own cloth bags, and knows that I always bring them, she seems to be so conditioned by the other customers to use plastic bags that she can't get herself to put my stuff into cloth rather than plastic... I was still getting my things together, while she was already packing and adding up, and she put everything into (my own) two thin plastic bags and left the cloth bag empty. So re-packing needed to be done. Oh well, we'll teach them yet...

Ina

[Lyds]

Any news on the cloth bags yet Andy?