Would You Support This Plastic Bag Scheme?

verisimilitude on 04/07/2018 - 23:23
Last edited 04/07/2018 - 23:27

Reading about all these plastic bag ban issues, a thought came to mind:

What if Woolworths or Coles rewarded their customers for bringing their own reusable bags, instead of penalising them with a fee when they don't bring it. So the idea is, if a customer uses their own reusable bags, they will get a credit for x number of bags stored into their rewards card per shop, much like flybuys or reward points. So if the customer ever forgets to bring a reusable bag, then they can apply the credit stored in their rewards card, so that they will not be penalised for forgetting it once in a while.

I know I will definitely appreciate this. I do bring my own reusable bags when doing a big shop, but if I'm just popping into the store after work, I might not always have the bags with me.

Do you think this will work? If anyone here works with Woolworths or Coles, any chance you could point the right person to this post?

Poll Options

  • 12
    Yes
  • 27
    No
Food & Grocery

closed Comments

  • Diji1 on 04/07/2018 - 23:30

    But then they won't make $500,000 per week assuming one million people buy 5 plastic bags each and they cost 0.05c.

    They probably cost fractions of a cent in reality.

    • verisimilitude on 04/07/2018 - 23:35

      Yes, it will mean they will not be making much profits on the bags. Well, they do say that the ban is for the environment, then they would need some sort of a plan to help change people's habits.

  • Illian on 04/07/2018 - 23:36

    It wouldn't work, you could go in buy a single item and leave while carrying it, which would count as bringing your own 'bag'. Or place everything freely in a trolley. Giving you credit for that is basically giving away money for nothing. Even if there was a way to control for things like that, I'd say 1 bag credit for every 20 shops is fair. I keep my bag in the car, and I started using it at the start of the year but I still forget to put it back in the car sometimes or to bring it with me from the car and have to run back to get it, so I understand the frustration. It is a transitional process though, people just have to adapt and I don't expect Woolworths to have to help with that. There are nylon bags you can buy which can even be folded to fit inside a wallet, for a backup.

    • verisimilitude on 04/07/2018 - 23:45

      But they were giving the plastic bags for free anyway previously. Alot of people's gripe is that they are making money out of this plastic bag ban. So if they were to implement something like this, at least it shows that they are trying to get people to change habits, rather than making this a cash grab.

      I do agree that implementation will probably need some more thought. They will need to do some market research as to what people feel is a fair number to set it at.

  • try2bhelpful on 05/07/2018 - 00:20

    How about people bring their own bags until the supermarkets come up with a product that breaks down into something that doesn't cause massive harm to the environment. I have a scrunched up elasticised bag that goes down to the size of a mans hanky that I carry everywhere in my bag and another bag that is slightly bigger that comes out to the creditible backpack. It doesn't take much effort to carry around a bag with you just in case you go to the supermarket. For bigger shops we carry reusable bags in our car at all time.

    The supermarkets are only making money on this if people don't remember to bring their own bags; so it is easy to stop them profiting.

    I am now carrying two ziploc bags with me everywhere so I can bag my own takeaway when I can't finish a meal at lunch time; rather than getting a takeway container. Wash, dry reuse and something I can easily fold up and carry in my bag.

  • Moderatorscrimshaw on 05/07/2018 - 00:34

    Thread closed as per OP's request

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