Coles and Woolies Phasing Out Plastic Bags - So Do We Now BUY Rubbish Bags?

oztite on 20/07/2017 - 18:58
Last edited 21/07/2017 - 00:50

I am all for the environment, and I wish science has an answer (e.g. degradable plastic bags). Personally I use ALL my plastic bags from Coles and Woolies as garbage bags at home, and I assume a lot of people do this. Now they are phasing it out, I may have to BUY the bags, so my overall "plastic footprint" is probably unchanged.

So, is this simply a cost cutting stunt? Or a feel good exercise? Can we change the environment? Or, can we start putting rubbish in the bin without a bag? Would city councils accept that? What about apartments?

EDIT: I stuffed up the poll, should be:

I've always used colesworth bags as garbage bags and will start buying commercial garbage bags
I've always used colesworth bags as garbage bags but will NOT buy commercial garbage bags
I don't use colesworth bags as garbage bags and always buy commercial garbage bags anyway
I never use garbage bags
I am garbage

Poll Options

  • 703
    I've always used colesworth bags as garbage bags and will have to start buying commercial garbage ba
  • 11
    plastic footprint unchanged.
  • 41
    I've always used colesworth bags as garbage bags but will NOT buy commercial garbage bags because I
  • 111
    I don't use colesworth bags as garbage bags and always buy commercial garbage bags anyway - plastic
  • 8
    I never use garbage bags.
  • 59
    I am garbage.
Food & Grocery

Comments

  • cockneylondoner on 23/07/2017 - 09:13
    +2

    There is a lot of comments on this subject, the majority of which I have not waded through, so if my comments below have already been made please accept my apology.
    By law, in the UK the majority of plastic bags are chargeable, 5p (less than 10c) per bag with the proceeds going to charity. There are exceptions but generally speaking this is the norm.
    It is reckoned that the issue of new plastic bags has fallen by around 80%

  • DanielR on 23/07/2017 - 10:30
    +2

    Aldi been doing this since they arrived, Costco doesn't have shopping bags… I keep a dozen mesh type bags with me in the car and get Coles / Woolies to use them. As for wastage at home I divide things up;
    1. Recyclables - they go straight in a tub - no liner
    2. Food scraps - (veg, fruit, egg shell scraps) go to the worm farm or compost - no liner
    3. Other waste (minimal) in a separate bin - no liner

    Actual outdoor bin, one garbage bag liner only - or if you don't want to use a liner, directly in the bin.

  • djmm on 23/07/2017 - 12:13

    If either coles or woolies decided not to do this, theyd make money from customers preferring to have bags

  • sj2can on 23/07/2017 - 15:25
    +2

    Guys - we need to start taking pride of our beautiful environment. Get some paper bin liners and give some thought about how you can leave this place a better place for future generations. We need to start making some TINY steps forward to reduce some of our waste, so that we are ready to make the harder ones down the track.

    I'm no saint by any stretch but we should all try working together to be moving away from wasteful products.

  • pikapika on 23/07/2017 - 16:06
    +2

    Like others have mentioned Tassie has been doing this for years so I've gotten used to it over time. I make sure I always have bags in my car..I have a few plastic and a few clothed bags. IF I run short then I just 'suck it up' and buy another bag WHICH I will then use for other shopping trips.

    I always reused the plastic bags from Woolies/Coles for various small trash bins or reused the bags to cart things from my house to other places. Whenever anyone asks if I need a bag I'll almost always say YES because I know it'll be put to use. I find the newer plastic bags that break down over time are rather good so I wished we could of gotten those instead of 'no bags' at all unless you buy them kinda thing with Woolies/Coles.

    The only thing I don't like is these newer plastic Woolies/Coles bags as I don't find they fit the trash bins as well and they're nothing like the newer plastic bags with a plain logo on it that do break down quicker..Also when you go to tie them up they'll untie quicker as the plastic is much glossier. So, I have been using trash bags that have been bought a number of times whereas before I didn't.

  • GregMonarch on 23/07/2017 - 16:16
    -3

    Have to agree this is foolish pandering to a minority, who wishes to inconvenience the majority (yet again).

    1. Bags can made so biodegradable they disappear in a couple of days. (I've seen it. Forget where I got the bag now, but it turned to dust!) They could also replace with paper like many places in the USA use.
    2. It's a greenie LIE the current bags don't break down for years. I use them to separate things in my garage. Even in that protected environment (no sun, inside a closed cardboard box, and up on a shelf)… they soon turn to brittle fibres or powder.
    3. The bags people will now keep in their car instead: those synthetic, printed things that look like cloth but are actually plastic and have a plastic sheet in the bottom - last far longer in the environment.
    4. The bags people will buy for kitchen waste, waste paper baskets, and to carry stuff around in to avoid using one of those 'neutered manlette bags'… will last far longer than the current ones.

    But… Must appease the whiners determined to make people's lives difficult.

    • sj2can on 23/07/2017 - 16:40
      +1

      I'm sorry, but part of your post contains falsehoods.
      1) "Bags can made so biodegradable they disappear in a couple of days. (I've seen it. Forget where I got the bag now, but it turned to dust!)"
      This is not a solution. The bag merely degrades to microscopic particles, that then end up in the water supply, and eventually onto your table when you consume your next seafood dish.
      "They could also replace with paper like many places in the USA use."
      I would support this.

      2) "It's a greenie LIE the current bags don't break down for years. I use them to separate things in my garage. Even in that protected environment (no sun, inside a closed cardboard box, and up on a shelf)… they soon turn to brittle fibres or powder."
      Its a petrolium based product. It will not break down for many, many years. And even when it "turns to powder" they have a detrimental impact on the environment. Just because something disappears doesn't mean its magically ceased to exist. It's just gotten smaller.

      • GregMonarch on 23/07/2017 - 16:57

        Well, in point 1, I'm not talking about 'plastic' plastic bags. It was made of… cornstarch!? Something like that. If it had disappeared any faster it would have evaporated, LOL.

        As per #3, people are simply going to replace them with other plastic bags that are worse. So breaking down to minute bits is better than buying a heavy duty bag like Aldi sells. Several times I've been in Aldi, someone in line has said something like, "Grrr… They don't give you bags here… Just grab 5 of theirs." The other person then says something like, "They're $1.50 each - and we'll only throw them away when we get home." "Yeah, but we have to have something to carry all this in."

        • atrorz on 25/07/2017 - 11:41

          3 - you can recycle green bags the same as disposable bags, hopefully people will be more likely to do so than a disposable one. A disposable one is more prone to wind dispersal and ends up in water ways. Just because a minority of idiots forget their bags when going to Aldi and panic buy a bunch they'll throw out later doesn't mean that we should just keep producing disposable plastic bags forever, there's an obvious issue here even for people who aren't leftie mcleftards. Eventually those people will learn, once no bags are not available at any supermarket, that they have to keep the bags and reuse them.

        • GregMonarch on 25/07/2017 - 17:10

          The USA has no problem producing bags from cornstarch. They still have large open-top paper bags with no handles too, that they have to 'hug' to carry. Yet we - just get nothing. Good for the trolley collectors and car spray painters anyway.

          If by 'green bags' you meant those plastic ones that look like cloth, but are really plastic - it would be nice if people recycled them. But the fact they don't feel like plastic and look like fabric, works against that. They often come apart at the seams too. People struggle on using them until they're given another one by some store somewhere - so groceries fall out of them and get damaged. And because they don't feel like plastic and have the appearance of cloth - straight into the garbage they go. :-(

          The only thing with cornstarch bags, the one I saw anyway - quickly dissolved when moisture hit it. So if that's common to them all (maybe making them thicker would help), then they'd need two types of bags at checkouts. Once for dry goods, one for freezer/meat. (It was amazing how quick it disappeared when it got wet.)

      • [Deactivated] on 05/04/2018 - 01:06

        Coles & Woolies were using these biodegradable bio-plastic bags (plant not petroleum based) for a short while. I'm guessing they stopped because these bags were either too expensive or were disintegrating in storage.

  • akl977ad on 23/07/2017 - 18:45

    Like I said it's easy to adjust.
    Things I learnt in the ACT.

    Instead of the thin more environmentally friendly non-reusable bags, everyone just throws their rubbish away using the 15c "reusable" bags. I guess they're reusable in the sense that you can reuse it once i.e. as a bin liner. People have so many here it's not funny. So instead of a few small bags per trip its 2x reusable bags every week.

    Others buy the very thick bin liners that damage the environment even more. Same environmental impact as the 15c "reusable" bags.

    So I can safely say that it is worse for the environment.

    • dtc on 25/07/2017 - 11:34
      +1

      well I'm in the ACT and none of that occurs. I have no purchased thick reusable bags, I bring my own or just transport it to the car in a trolley. I dont use bin liners as a rule, but if there is something messy to go in the bin then I put it into an old bread bag or something like that.

      also your 'facts' are wrong based on 'the facts'

      http://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/curious-canberra/2017-04…

  • definitive on 23/07/2017 - 19:05
    +1

    First off, I'm assuming this means that single use checkout bags are being banned? After all, surely they do not expect loose vegetables to be wrapped in paper or something.

    So, plastic bags have been phased out from Coles and Woolies for a few years now in SA. Here's what we've done:

    1. Even though checkout bags are now replaced with paid plastic bags, loose groceries and deli products are still given clear bags. These are smaller and have no 'handle', but are considered single use and work fine as bin bags. Sure, I'm not going to use the same one that they wrapped raw meats in, but a single use bag for loose veg should be fine. Same goes for smaller grocery stores or farmers markets. Even though the main checkout bags are being phased out, plastic bags are not yet gone.

    2. The grocery bags are smaller than the normal checkout bags, which means they don't always fit the older bins, nor the same amount of trash. Step two is then reducing trash. Surprisingly, there's not actually that much trash that needs disposing if everything goes into compost or recycling appropriately. Taking out the trash is a little bit more frequent, but since these bags are floating around anyway, no need to add to an environmental burden of proper trash bags just for a minor convenience.

    3. Using a smaller bin - same idea as the last part, since the bags are smaller and trash size is being reduced, a smaller bin is used as a reminder sometimes that amounts of trash should be lowered. Works fine. I've seen some houses where they have a half bin, where the bag hangs off a hook to keep it open, but doesn't really affect the depth of the 'bin'.

    TL;DR, plastic bags are still around, just from slightly different places. Might as well use bags you already have rather than buy new ones.

  • grjohnson on 23/07/2017 - 19:17
    +1

    Everyone will now need to purchase plastic bags from, yes you guessed it, Coles or Wollies. Increasing profit for the sake of going "green"

  • dsp26 on 23/07/2017 - 20:27

    That sucks, i usually take a bunch with me at self checkout then make my way to aldi with my coles/woolies trolley and platic bags

  • [Deactivated] on 23/07/2017 - 21:14

    I always felt shopping bags were a fair and reasonable contribution to my garbage needs.

    However when I heard arguments from people attempting to quantify bags as reusable; as a bin liner.
    How often do I acquire goods that I consider throwing out as a method of reusing.

    Made me think
    I have significantly more bags than I need
    (how many items in the store in each bag
    how the contents shrink after its use empty food packs separate recycling.)

    One maybe 2 bags are enough to put the waste of entire 10 or more bags worth of my shopping.

    These days bread bags, chip bags veggie wrap

    Any type of bag I would otherwise throw out is the optimal means to dispose of loose rubbish.

    There is no need to have so many shopping bags, no need to buy garbage liners (in most cases)

  • [Deactivated] on 23/07/2017 - 21:23

    Quite common in SA to use actual bin liners, not many people fork out the $0.15 for a plastic bag so it's the only real option as is…

  • Lancerx on 24/07/2017 - 10:27

    Honestly win win for the corporate big supermarket, but for us consumers more money spent on buying bags, which I doubt gonna do much for environment anyway. Bags still gonna be around, especially those fresh good ones.

    The way I see it, if the corporate supermarket so environmentally friendly, they could have offered paper bags, or biodegradable bags instead. Sound whole lot about "being noble, and saved big money at the same time"

  • Lancerx on 24/07/2017 - 10:30

    On the other hand, I wonder how they gonna deliver click and collect orders too. Whoever pick the orders wasted plastic bags like no tomorrow..sometimes I get 1 bag per vege lol

  • Justinism on 24/07/2017 - 11:12
    +2

    http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3953606.htm

    ^ not sure if you all remeber this story from a couple years back, it shows what happens to trash and gives you a brief look into land fills in Australia.

    http://www.isfoundation.com/campaign/environment-fight-club-…

    ^and here is a brief look at Landfill vs incinerator options side by side.

    Obviously not telling the whole story…but gives some brief insight. tbh, use of plastic bags is not the issue, its the after use management of these plastics that is the issue.

    Chucking it into a landfill is about the most inefficient thing you can do. In Norway, they incinerate everything and use the ash to make paving bricks. the Smoke is captured for processing and very little carbon is released. the incineration produces electricity as well.

  • jmu93 on 24/07/2017 - 11:22

    Have had this in place for a few years in Tas, to be fair the idea would be great if the 15c WW/Coles bags weren't so thick (and environmentally damaging). I occasionally buy the 15c bags when I forget to buy stuff. Was a good change for attitudes, bin liners we now reuse produce bags, frozen product bags, postage bags and lots of excess plastic packaging that comes with stuff.

  • PlasmaCatcher on 24/07/2017 - 11:29

    Bring back paper bags, or even better - paper bags made from recycled paper!

    • Herbse on 24/07/2017 - 13:07

      These use energy and resources (water, binders) to make. Byo bag, everyone's happy.

  • Herbse on 24/07/2017 - 13:05

    So are people here saying that they always use the exact number of plastic bags to pick up their shopping that they need to use for rubbish bins?

    Sounds to me like people need to check what they're throwing out and start composting and recycling more, like plastic wrappings etc.

  • tap on 24/07/2017 - 13:19
    +1

    Blue IKEA bags are the best.

    • kaleidoscope on 24/07/2017 - 13:31
      +1

      i do the same, cheers!

    • bobbified on 24/07/2017 - 13:47
      -1

      Not for short people, they're not! - they end up scraping on the ground and well.. there's a hole!

      • tap on 25/07/2017 - 09:52
        +2

        That's what the shorter strap handles are for? I never use the long handles unless I'm sharing the load with someone else ;)

  • leonardoryan on 24/07/2017 - 13:30

    Back in 2008 or 2009 they discontinue to give plastic back for free and start charging 10c or something. It proved to be unpopular and that policy would last for even a year. They should think a better way about the environmental impact

  • kaleidoscope on 24/07/2017 - 13:30
    +1

    I shop mostly at aldi and my garbage bin is a 27L in size (so none of the colesworth bags arent even suitable) So i never had the need to rely on colesworth bags and was using commercial bags. If phasing out gives more reward points at colesworth, it would be bettter encouragement for the shoppers :-)

  • serpserpserp on 24/07/2017 - 20:20

    Naturally this isn't a problem because you have been stocking up on bags for years and stashed them in the garage like a good ozbargainer…

  • DingoBilly on 24/07/2017 - 20:58
    +1

    Eh, living in ACT you learn to live with it as it's been around for at least 3 years now if not longer. It's not as big a deal as some of you are making it out to be, and the plastic footprint is much reduced despite what some people say as you actually think a bit more about what you're throwing out.

    But people are pretty bad with change as always. You'll get used to it and find it's not a big deal.

    • dtc on 25/07/2017 - 11:37

      No, surely its only baby boomers and old people who are resistant to change. Our youth of today are keen and enthusiastic disrupters and demand that everything change to suit their way of life. As you can see from this thread

  • Oliver on 24/07/2017 - 21:59
    +2

    ABC did an article the other day that shows you need to use those calico bags 50 or 100 or 200 times to offset the justification to make them vs plastic bags and since most people don't - then they're worse than plastic bags.

    • dtc on 25/07/2017 - 11:39
      +2

      You are focused only on production however. What about rubbish and the effect of plastic on sea creatures etc?

      Its like saying that an open wood fire is better for the environment than a solar panel because the environmental impact of creating an open fire pit is far less than the cost of producing a solar panel. It is. If you stop there and completely ignore everything else

      • atrorz on 25/07/2017 - 11:45

        haha, exactly. Plus redcycle recycles old green bags, and people might be more likely to drop them back to the redcycle bin when they begin to fray, rather than being tempted to just throw a damaged disposable bag into the bin

      • idonotknowwhy on 25/07/2017 - 11:57

        What do sea creatures have to do with it?
        You either
        1. Recycle them in those bins outside colesworth (I assume they get re-used, not dumped in the ocean)
        or
        2. Line you bin with them, then they get buried in landfill, again, not dumped in the ocean.

  • tunzafun001 on 24/07/2017 - 23:33
    +1

    Just use the million other plastic bags for bin liners. Potato bag, shopping bag, dog biscuit bag, Aussie post bag, surfstitch bag, eBay bag. duty free sealed bag…bag to hold the duty free bag… I literally cannot throw away enough rubbish each week to keep up with the bags that I can't avoid. Absolute mystery how anyone would consider that they need to buy more.

    Have 5 shopping bags that I keep in my jack storage area in my car. A tub/ cardboard box is also handy.

  • JimB on 25/07/2017 - 10:57

    From one end of the spectrum to another.

    I've ordered 24 boxes of tissues from Woolies online because I know a full carton has 24 boxes.

    What do I get delivered? 8 bags, each containing 3 boxes of tissues.

    Wouldn't it be much easier for everyone to give me a full carton?

    It's not like it's an OH&S issue delivering a full carton.

    I use all my Colesworth bags to line the bin in my current house. In my previous house, the bin was much bigger so I had to buy the bags.

    Overall, I don't mind the principle of reducing shopping bags. Plastic is terrible for the environment.

    • WhatWouldBiggieDo on 25/07/2017 - 12:41
      -1

      If you invested a in a wife/girlfriend you wouldn't need to buy so many tissues.. JS

      • JimB on 25/07/2017 - 15:07
        +1

        It's for the tears of disappointment after the deed is done.

  • itsdougie on 25/07/2017 - 18:55

    I go to the fruit section and get bags. Not practical but its free

  • captain fluffy on 25/07/2017 - 19:06

    Not sure if plastic bin liner companies are based in Australia but, whoever's in that business must be rejoicing.

    So does anyone know where's I can buy plastic bags like these for cheap?

  • divergent on 25/07/2017 - 21:53

    If they do this out of concern for the environment then they should not be allowed to sell them. It is pure hypocrisy to use one hand to ban them and another to sell them for a profit. The 5-15c bags should be made of paper to cover the cost of creating them or they should ban disposable bags altogether.

  • bringbring on 25/07/2017 - 23:05
    -1

    Has no one ever visited Europe? This isn't some bizzare new idea they've come up with. This will reduce out country's carbon footprint… FACT. It will also drastically reduce the number of plastic bags floating around as rubbish. Check out the North Atlantic garbage patch.

    Dunno what the aussie supermarkets have planned, but in the UK, they donate all the proceedings from plastic bags purchased to charity.

    I always used supermarket bags as bin bags, but there would always be extras left over (don't deny it). If you bothered to take them in for recycling good on ya…

  • Shiny Mew on 26/07/2017 - 09:33

    Introduce corn starch bags and mandate compost bins. As an interim measure, stretch out your current mass of plastic bags by rinsing them out and drying them in the sun to re-use a few times over.

    • idonotknowwhy on 26/07/2017 - 18:12

      and mandate compost bins
      Nah, some of us can only afford to live in shoe-boxes with no gardens

      • Shiny Mew on 26/07/2017 - 21:14

        Where that's the case, the onus should be on the apartment owner to provide and maintain them as common facilities.

        • idonotknowwhy on 27/07/2017 - 08:43

          Maybe, but the way things work here, it'll be "only for new dewllings", making property ownership that much harder for young people.

  • capslock on 01/08/2017 - 13:18

    My local Coles now has a stack of 15c plastic bags behind each self serve machine. The day must be near. Anyone in Melbourne lost their plastic bags yet?

  • cupcake on 02/08/2017 - 13:40

    Try and use all the plastic bags you already have as bin liners before buying any.
    When you run out, get some from family and friends.
    Surely there are plenty of plastic bags around.
    I've never had to buy bin liners.

  • jm48 on 04/08/2017 - 17:04

    Weighing the costs and benefits makes it clear that banning plastic bags yields little benefit at very high cost. Unfortunately, the political symbolism of banning the bags is powerful. It is often easier to ignore the science that indicates such bans may actually harm the environment than to make an honest effort to weigh these issues. All of this is why plastic-bag bans are more about environmental image than environmental benefit.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390444165804578006…

    Studies say that plastic bags have a lighter environmental footprint than paper, and in some cases are preferable to reusable bags.

    https://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2011/12/22/defense-plastic-bag

    • [Deactivated] on 05/04/2018 - 01:08

      Manufacturing paper is very polluting.

  • [Deactivated] on 12/11/2017 - 16:41
    +1

    Quite terrible.

    This week my store started to make people buy reuseable plastic bags at the served checkouts.

    I just told them to cancel my items and I took them over to the self serve and got some bags.

    I think time is running out though…

    I would probably recommend bringing an extra bag that you can rollup and place in your pocket, preferably not of the same supermarket logo in case they think you stole it.

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