How Many Times Do You Use The 15c Resusable Bag?

tooblue on 09/07/2018 - 09:39
Last edited 09/07/2018 - 12:02 by 1 other user

But overall, reusable bags need to be used at least 50 times in order for their environmental benefits to be realised. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-24/war-on-waste-what-bags…

But from the experience in my family, some of bags were already ripped, stretched and had holes after one single use. I haven't put any heavy items or sharp objects yet. Maybe a box of tissue is too sharp for them. I highly doubt these bags are able to sustain 10 uses.

Some other shops simply provide the "same" plastic bags except they are thicker than 35 microns and customers have to pay for them. I also doubt these bags cost more than 15c than the old "single use" bags to the merchants.

It is true that the 15c cost will discourage people from using them but more people still do. As long as one in 50 customers uses it as disposable bag, the benefits to the environment will diminish.

So the result of the bag ban is we the customers now pay more to do more damage to the environment, and merchants and overseas plastic bag suppliers pocket the windfall.

Food & Grocery

Comments

    • HighAndDry on 09/07/2018 - 17:20

      The fact we're having to rely on anecdotal evidence at all to support this move is crazy. This is a move that's basically nationwide at this point, which cost millions of dollars, has hundreds of millions of dollars in impact, and not one person thought - oh, maybe we should get a study before we hit the switch? Nah - something like this getting railroaded through definitely means someone, or ones, are benefiting. And it sure as hell isn't the environment.

      • [Deactivated] on 09/07/2018 - 18:14

        There have been several studies linked here, you didn't read them, you did quote the excerpts though, so you know they exist. Going to assume you work for the plastic packaging lobby at this point. Can't think of any other reason you'd keep spreading this nonsense.

        I'd have kind of assumed 10 years of lived experience in S.A. would be worth a thousand studies. This is certainly the slowest and most lethargic railroading I've ever seen, decades in the making.

        • HighAndDry on 09/07/2018 - 18:25

          Going to assume you work for the plastic packaging lobby at this point.

          Hahahaha… the same plastic packaging companies that still have a tonne of business from Woolies and Coles?

          No, I quoted excerpts that you were picking out. If you can't even pick out excerpts to support your argument, I think that says something about the strength of your argument. Oh, and you linked a picture - which says something about you I guess.

        • [Deactivated] on 09/07/2018 - 19:43

          @HighAndDry: I picked excerpts that fully represented the facts, including the increased sales of bin liners. You somehow think that the volume of your garbage matches the volume of your groceries, which can't be true unless you produce your own garbage.

          Did you even look at the picture? I doubt it, because you seem like a heartless (profanity).

        • HighAndDry on 10/07/2018 - 10:24

          @Bargs: The picture was a bird with a plastic bag. Which is either irrelevant or an entirely emotional argument (Oh look at the poor sealife!). Is sealife important? Yes. But I'm asking for studies and you give me that drivel. No wonder the supermarkets are having such an easy time pulling the wool over people - if they're all as irrational as you.

        • [Deactivated] on 11/07/2018 - 17:12

          @HighAndDry: Is sealife important? Yes, but only if supermarkets don't make any profit! lol.

          They're businesses, they make a profit, that's what they do if they want to continue to exist. Making a profit while reducing waste is better than making a profit creating it.

    • [Deactivated] on 09/07/2018 - 18:12

      Yeah, I went years forgetting to bring mine, there was no consequence for not bringing them, but I've been in the habit for years so that it no longer happens. I've not forgotten a bag now in years. If you buy 2-3x as many as you need you always have some in the car even if you leave the last lot at home. You basically just have a couple at work and a shops worth or two in the car and you're set, you never forget.

      All the studies have shown this to be the case, especially for people doing bigger shops. Basically, if you're going shopping with the intention of doing a large shop you very quickly never forget. It's the people just ducking in for more than they can carry by hand on an unplanned basis without their cars that get stuck on occasion. But if you can't plan ahead regularly, this is the least of your problems.

      • releasethekr4cken on 10/07/2018 - 11:28
        +1

        Yeah I used to forget mine too it's the worst. Unless I am really in a hurry I actually go back home to get them now, which is a pain because I have to go through 2 very slow electric gates haha

  • Skramit on 09/07/2018 - 17:46

    Just once. Then I walk down to the beach and throw it in the water. apparently that’s what we all did with plastic bags before so….

    • petry on 09/07/2018 - 17:51

      what do you wish for skram?

      • Skramit on 09/07/2018 - 18:31
        +1

        Plastic bags at the checkout for free.

        • dazweeja on 09/07/2018 - 19:59

          Seems pretty unnecessary. Why not bring your own bags?

        • Skramit on 09/07/2018 - 20:14

          @dazweeja: I don’t own any.

  • syousef on 09/07/2018 - 18:57

    Making us pay is step 1. BS about being environmentally friendly so we have to pay and stronger thicker bags are an initial inducement.

    Step 2. They won't stay this thick.
    Step 3. They won't stay 15c for long.

    Mark my words. When we're paying 50c a pop for bags as flimsy as the old ones, you might remember.

    • [Deactivated] on 09/07/2018 - 19:41
      +1

      The point isn't to buy the 15c ones, those are for suckers, the point is to buy the 99c ones from them, or if you want to do what I did, from eBay etc. Then you'll not need to buy any more for years and years, no matter what happens.

      They might get cheaper than 15c, but they can't get thinner, in most states as of July 1, under 35 microns thick are now ILLEGAL so the supermarkets can't give them away or sell them. This isn't some supermarket conspiracy, at worst all they've done is have nation-wide timing for what they were already forced to do in most states already.

      You're perfectly free to buy your own bags elsewhere and use those. The supermarkets would love to go back to giving you a free bag that cost them fractions of a cent, because their research showed people made more impulse purchases when they did. But the law has now stopped them from doing this, other than Aldi none of them made this move voluntarily.

    • dazweeja on 09/07/2018 - 19:56
      +1

      If that happens and people are still choosing to pay 50c for a bag you can use a few times instead of $2 for a bag you can use hundreds of times, more fool them. The idea is that people stop using these flimsy bags altogether so what you are describing sounds like a good thing to me.

  • Tuftsdude on 09/07/2018 - 19:17

    Not much. The old ones were all used as bin liners or lunch bags. These ones are too big to be used as lunch bags and we buy a different brand now for bin liners that fit a lot more nicely in our bins.

  • Blargman2001 on 09/07/2018 - 19:20
    +3

    I live in SA. We've had no plastic bags for years. I have a collection of 15c bags in my cupboard. Some are at least 5 years old, most have been used at least 10 times. I have never had a bag rip or puncture on me when I carry my grocery shopping. The ones that have ripped and torn did so because I stuffed them with computer equipment, cables, tools or some other thing they weren't designed to carry. I also am not stingy with the bags when I go shopping. It's when you overload them and try to stuff as much as you can in them is when they rip and tear. I tend to use the thicker green plastic bags when I shop though and in all my years have only had two or three fail on me.You will eventually learn to always have some green bags in your car and you will hardly ever use those 15c bags ever again.

  • dragonsworn7 on 09/07/2018 - 19:52

    ACT here. We’ve been paying 15c for the bags for years. Never had an issue with bags breaking until now. The new ones are terrible. Did a click and collect at woolies today and they loaded all my groceries into 2 bags and charged me $1 for the privilege. These bags look unlikely to last another trip. Hopefully just a matter of time until there is an option while checking out for bringing your own bags. Seems like too much common sense though.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/07/2018 - 19:54

    You wouldn't believe the markup these guys have on groceries, it's blatant profiteering. Did you know, with the amount they make in profit on my groceries, they could afford to give me thousands of free bags with every shop and still make a profit!

    Isn't it terrible? From now on I'm only shopping at the commune where profit isn't allowed! It's almost like they're running a business.

    Get this, when people were too disorganised to bring bags and abused the staff, all of a sudden the new bags were free! It's like they don't want immature morons harassing their staff because they're too tight to pay 15c and too stupid to plan ahead!

    I for one won't rest until supermarkets risk paying the >$6000 per bag fine to give me a thin plastic bag that ends up so full of holes by the time I get I can't use it as a bin liner because it's wholly ineffective for even that purpose! Because everything's about me!

    rolls eyes

  • StealthBargins on 09/07/2018 - 20:05

    I have a stack of 100 15cent bags which i use once to shop then throw away if they have holes/handle broken or use as rubbish bag,
    in my houseold I have 2 housemates and they separately shop 3 times a week and buy about 30-40 15c bags a week between them and their/my friends, if im not around they would get binned right away by them.

    • [Deactivated] on 12/07/2018 - 22:47

      You guys must eat A LOT…and plan poorly.

  • l005e on 09/07/2018 - 20:16
    +2

    I use it once to take my things to the car then I take them back in store for a refund.

  • Croshema on 09/07/2018 - 22:50

    I have been waiting for some comments to come through like the most recent.

    I always buy $15c bags, I buy as many as I need for each shop, I save them all for later use.

    There are times when I have 35+ bags on hand and there are genuinely times when I have used every spare bag having none left.

    I know some people so the same, I can't prove it, but it is surely more than one out of ten.

    I'm not weighing in on the environmental aspects here, but as far as the statistics are involved I imagine the results may be a little skewed, the people passionate about reusable bags are possibly more likely to participate in the study than those who don't care at all, plastic bag users in this case.

    I applaud the people that have been using the same reusable bags for the last 5-10 years, but surely when you are telling us about this you know you are not the average person, maybe you will be soon, but you surely weren't ten years ago.

    What I like about reusable bags is that it is an easy way for end users, us, to reduce our waste, the packaging our goods come in represent a horrible and bigger problem for our planet and pollution, but am I going fix that problem, no I am not.

    Well after saying that I must go get some fabric bags and use them 50+ times.

    • [Deactivated] on 09/07/2018 - 23:03

      No doubt not the average 'Australian' today even (outside of S.A.), but will be the average in 10 years.

      Studies like that don't tell people what they are about before they're included or it's worthless. People have to participate before they know. They're generally paid or given another incentive for their answers without judgement as to what they are. No study selects its participants if it the researcher ever wants to be taken seriously again, it's career ending.

      In a couple of months all but the most pedantic of people won't care less about this.

      The supermarket 'scam' comments are the most hilarious, as if Supermarkets were somehow forced to offer free plastic bags originally and have been prevented from not offering them ever since by some dark power so they had to wait for an actual legal ban before finally getting what they always wanted.

      Someone was throwing about that they'll save $170m, which if true, represents nearly SIX BILLION plastic bags annually. A 90% reduction will remove more than 5 billion bags annually from the waste stream in that case. If only 0.001% of them ended up in the environment that's more than 50,000 per year!

      • Croshema on 09/07/2018 - 23:37

        Can't say I have viewed the Zero waste SA data gathering questionnaire, however it refers to its (phase 3) 502 people as respondents, unless they put many red herrings in people with strong feelings relating to any questions are more likely to be "respondents", they even recontacted previous respondents! so it's a bit off to me.

        Though to their credit they did touch on how recontacting people could have caused atypical results, hence another 254 randomly selected people, not enough for me.

        Who is going to give them the time of day? people who have time, people who care about data gathering, people who like to talk, people who care, people who can't say no, with a sample size that small I doubt (though don't know) they included many low socioeconomic/rough areas.

        Picture if you will the people who drop cigarette butts and rubbish to the pavement the instant they are done, does their care stop here? do these people not care about the environment and on average not use reusable bags? picture this person again, picture them being asked to take second, fill in some details, complete a questionnaire, my biased view from life is they are on average less likely to be a respondent in this case.

        …ah, anyway sample size inadequate.

        Agree this will be a non issue very soon.

        It will also be fantastic if 50,000 less bags make into our environment every year.

      • syousef on 11/07/2018 - 21:30

        In a couple of months all but the most pedantic of people won't care less about this.

        Want a bet?

    • [Deactivated] on 12/07/2018 - 22:49

      I’m not “passionate” about this issue at all. But being an ozbargainer I am thrifty. Constantly buying new bags is a waste of money and your average Aussie is looking to save where they can. Maybe you are the outlier.

  • subywagon on 09/07/2018 - 23:29
    +4

    Why don't you mainlanders just use cloth bags, or cardboard boxes when you forget your bags and stop sooking? Making plastic bags more inconvenient to use and therefore used less is obviously better for the environment. Get over yourselves already.

    • HighAndDry on 10/07/2018 - 10:20
      -2

      obviously better for the environment.

      And hundreds of years ago, the earth was obviously flat, and the sun obviously orbited around the earth.

      • subywagon on 10/07/2018 - 11:52
        +2

        So are you insinuating that in hundreds of years we may come to the conclusion that plastic in the sea may not actually be harmful for the environment and sea life?

  • [Deactivated] on 09/07/2018 - 23:32
    -2

    I felt like a poor having to carry a 15c item into the shop tonight

  • vicosads on 10/07/2018 - 05:48
    +4

    The greatest trick big business pulled was pretending they are about "environmental" causes

    • Skramit on 11/07/2018 - 15:41
      +1

      And gay rights.

  • geoffs87 on 10/07/2018 - 08:09
    +2

    Wow, so much hate, just buy a $1 re-usable bag, and bring them to the shops! No pastic, 100% re-usable (til they tear) and won't kill sea life!

    I don't get why everyone in Australia is so up in arms about this whole bag ban. Spend $5 on re-usable or cotton bags, and get on with your life. I'm pretty sure the 15c ones are there in case you forget your re-usable ones, and are essentially a carrot to change everyones behaviour.

    You can buy bin liners from woolies/coles for $2 for a pack of 50, so that might cost you $10-15 a year (depending on how many bins and how frequently you fill them), plus the $5 for the re-usable bags, thats like $20 per household, to help reducing plastic in waste and the environment. Sure, many of us used shopping bags again rather than wasting them, but many people didnt. This way, no single use bags will end up in landfill empty. I think its time everyone just moves on…

    rantover

    • HighAndDry on 10/07/2018 - 10:16
      +2

      You can buy bin liners from woolies/coles for $2 for a pack of 50, so that might cost you $10-15 a year (depending on how many bins and how frequently you fill them), plus the $5 for the re-usable bags, thats like $20 per household, to help reducing plastic in waste and the environment.

      Please tell me the logic in how buying bin liners reduces plastic in your waste.

      • geoffs87 on 10/07/2018 - 10:48
        +2

        Sure, many of us used shopping bags again rather than wasting them, but many people didnt. This way, no single use bags will end up in landfill empty.

        I didn't say it reduces plastic in my waste, rather in helps in reducing plastic waste in the environment (sorry i could have added "indirectly"). I did say, by the chains stopping issuing the single use plastic bags, it directly reduces the number of not-reused single use bags in landfill. I don't know the exact stats, and i never assumed to - but i would not imagine EVERY single use plastic bag that is taken home ends up as a bin liner? By Coles/Woolies no longer issuing these single use bags, these un-reused single use plastic bags can no longer end up in landfill/oceans/forests (as they no longer exist). Its the empty bags that are the problem…

        The unfortunate consequence is the consumers need to buy bin liners, but i think you can agree that ~100% of bin liners ending up in landfill for garbage purposes is better than <100% of single use plastic bags ending up as bin liners in landfill. each household forking out ~$20 a year to help that through is great. If you want to go one better, buy biodegradable bin liners, purchase products with less waste, recycle more etc, and you will use less liners.

        • HighAndDry on 10/07/2018 - 11:01
          +2

          There's no reason supermarkets couldn't have introduced biodegradable disposable plastic bags. Or started giving out non-plastic bags altogether. There are literally dozens of other ways to help the environment, than by selling thicker plastic bags.

          The fact people honestly think supermarkets are doing this "for the environment" makes no sense. The supermarkets are playing people for fools… and people are proving them right.

        • geoffs87 on 10/07/2018 - 11:27

          @HighAndDry: True… but Rome wasnt built in a day… every little bit helps!

        • HighAndDry on 10/07/2018 - 11:29

          @geoffs87: Only if it's in the right direction. This isn't it. This is worse for the environment - more steps like this will be worse, not better.

        • bringbring on 11/07/2018 - 05:26
          +3

          @HighAndDry:
          Where's the evidence to suggest it's worse (please don't cherry pick a few articles like the climate change deniers do)?

          Why would so, so many countries enforce similar ban bags by law? Do you think you're more intelligent and informed that policy makers of European countries?

          There's some questions for you.

        • Skramit on 11/07/2018 - 15:44
          +1

          @geoffs87:

          Lets destroy a brilliant modern convenience under the guise of helping the environment "one step at a time".

          TBH its no different to Australia pretending it can influence climate change by installing wind farms when our net effect is basically 0 on global emmissions.

          Dumb.

        • [Deactivated] on 11/07/2018 - 17:03

          @HighAndDry: I remember that time they had to roll back the plastic bag ban because it was so terrible for the environment, said no person ever.

          Remember that time it was such a failure in S.A. they never rolled it out in the rest of the country?

        • Ghost47 on 11/07/2018 - 19:09

          @HighAndDry: I guess you haven't seen those news videos where people who were shopping have trolleys full of 15c bags. It's just another option for consumers, yes it's bad because it's thicker plastic but people are selfish and some people go the cheaper way to save some money.

          You'd have exactly the same uproar if only 99c green bags were available, people would complain that there isn't a cheaper option.

        • geoffs87 on 12/07/2018 - 08:29

          @Skramit: Dumb? haha… If only all conveniences could be utilised with blatant disregard for the environment ongoing. I'll say it again, each step towards a better environment is a positive one, end of story!

          You know what, the arguments for and against are so moot at this point… the ban is in place, they won't reverse it, stop the whinging and just get on with your life.

          If woolies and coles are doing this for an extra dollar, good on them - they're a business not a charity…

        • Skramit on 12/07/2018 - 13:21

          @geoffs87: So we agree then, this is a money maker.

      • releasethekr4cken on 10/07/2018 - 11:57
        +3

        HighAndDry wants logic.

        When I was a kid my mums weekly shop (dads didn't shop in the 90s but when they did it is unpredictable, could be 7 bags, could be 100) was 15+ bags, there were 2 adults 3 kids, I remember doing at least 2 trips to the car because my sisters would really stitch me up so safe to say this number is accurate.

        Then I carried 1 loaded bin bag of rubbish to the green bin after dinner every night (for free = no allowance). So that's 15 bags incoming each week (shopping) and 7 outgoing each week (bins). The remaining bins were stockpiled in the cotton sleeve thingy in the pantry. That's 8 for all you people playing at home. 52 x 8 = 416 (round to 415) extra bags each year (which eventually got chucked ANYWAYS) so add those to the 365 bags used for bin liners. Sidenote: We had a big plastic bin for doing gardening which we used for the odd BBQ or party, you have to buy bags for these due to size anyway.

        If we used my current day method it'd be zero bags incoming from the shops and 365 (glad bin liners) going into the "environment"

        Buying bin liners, and not getting 15 shopping bags for free each week from coles. Use 1 bag per day for bin waste = 365 plastic bags in trash.
        Not buying bin liners, but getting 15 shopping bags for free each week from coles. Use 1 bag per day for bin waste = 780 plastic bags in trash. Because if you don't bin the spares eventually your house will explode.

        Also, now there's a faint lemony fresh scent in the environment. THANKS GLAD!!

        • HighAndDry on 10/07/2018 - 11:59
          -4

          Yes, I tend to think being logical is a good thing, as far as government policy is concerned. Did I really need to spell out that anecdotal evidence doesn't count too?

          Oh and since we're here anyway, let's poke some more holes in your logic:

          • Being bin liners aren't the only use for supermarket plastic bags, it's just the major one. More reuses that now you'll have to separately buy bags for.

          • Keeping plastic bags in your pantry isn't bad for the environment - I'll note even your anecdotal evidence doesn't seem to include chucking any out. And I assume your house didn't explode either.

          • Oh and lastly, you think no reusable shopping bag is going to get thrown out? Please…

          So yeah, fail with anecdotal evidence, and not so flash hot on your logic either.

        • releasethekr4cken on 13/07/2018 - 00:14

          "Oh and lastly, you think no reusable shopping bag is going to get thrown out? Please…"

          Far less dude, far far less! which is the whole frikkin point

          "Keeping plastic bags in your pantry isn't bad for the environment - I'll note even your anecdotal evidence doesn't seem to include chucking any out. And I assume your house didn't explode either."

          They still exist! but they aren't in the pantry anymore, safe to assume they are in landfill unless there is some fairy out disappearing them.

          so as far as anecdotal goes, I don't think that word means what you think it means

  • Zondor on 10/07/2018 - 08:42
    +1

    You guys sure are Whingers about plastic bags it's hilarious.

    • bringbring on 11/07/2018 - 05:29
      +1

      That's Australia for you.

  • Blitzfx on 10/07/2018 - 08:53

    Whats a Resusable bag?

  • Micko179 on 10/07/2018 - 09:52
    +2

    None. Zip. Nada! Have never bought one, don't foresee I ever will! I use real bags, if I forget to grab them before going shopping then I load all groceries back into the trolley, load them into the car then into the bags when I get home. If it's a small shop but there's more items than I can carry, then I simply grab a box which either gets composted, or used to send items overseas.

  • [Deactivated] on 10/07/2018 - 10:38
    +5

    This is another one of those threads where misinformation is built up into a gigantic fatberg.

    Thin plastic bags tend to get blown around into stormwater & into the ocean. They look like jellyfish, and are eaten by friendly turtles.

    Hopefully there will be less of that with the new bags - not only do they not look like jellyfish, there will hopefully be less of them.

    • idonotknowwhy on 10/07/2018 - 14:28

      For what it's worth, I'll still be using a lot of plastic for 1 avocado, I'll just be paying 15 cents for it:

      https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/316456?page=2#comment-4843…

      • [Deactivated] on 10/07/2018 - 14:37
        +1

        Ha! I'm having flashbacks!!

    • Pacify on 11/07/2018 - 17:23

      They get into the ocean, then breakdown. Into millions and millions of little pieces of micro-plastics. Which eventually get into the aquatic food chain. And then into our bodies. We just breaking the surface on what micro-plastics might really be doing, and its pretty scary.

      • [Deactivated] on 11/07/2018 - 17:59

        I agree.

  • releasethekr4cken on 10/07/2018 - 11:33
    +1

    Yeah I think they should have done another step further and not allowed them to sell 15c bags. It should be a $5 bag with proceeds going to environmental efforts. Noone will be forgetting their (actual) reusable bags then. Likely people will break into cars to steal them.

    • [Deactivated] on 11/07/2018 - 16:55

      It's a transition step. There will always be people who will forget on occasion. The supermarkets fought against the ban in the first place, they'd fight 100x harder if they had to charge enough for the bag that it would completely decimate impulse buys. The free bags paid for themselves in terms of impulse buys.

    • HighAndDry on 10/07/2018 - 12:04
      +1

      That's terrible, but how much of that was caused by Australian plastic bags, as opposed to ones from South East Asia which people have been saying is the main global source of the problem?

      • [Deactivated] on 11/07/2018 - 16:56
        +1

        We'll check their passports and get back to you.

  • hawkeye on 10/07/2018 - 12:08

    I see scuba diving in Indonesia is good too.
    Bali here I come.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31CdhLMV7Es

  • HeWhoKnows on 10/07/2018 - 13:28
    +1

    None.
    The green bags are much better

  • Mahalo on 10/07/2018 - 13:31
    +2

    Today I went to Woolworths with no bag with a short shopping list as I usually do. In the past I always walked out with 3 times the items on the list. However this time I only bought the items I had planned and could carry in my hands. I guess this is good for the environment as no bags were required and I didn’t spend 3 times the money i would normally do. No bag policy is stopping me from purchasing those extras or impulse buying.

    • sparkles on 11/07/2018 - 15:32
      +3

      Yes, if I turn up without a bag I only buy what I can carry (or less). I'm saving money, no more impulse purchases. Colesworth will regret this when you multiply this effect by 20 million people. Whatever they are making out of the plastic bags will not offset lost sales.

      • Pacify on 11/07/2018 - 17:24

        Humans are creatures of habit.

        You'd be surprised how quickly new habits form.

        • oz-dave on 11/07/2018 - 23:22
          +2

          Humans are creatures of habit.
          You'd be surprised how quickly new habits form.

          The habit might end up being that they buy less ;-)

          I'm already finding (especially when I don't have a bag) that I'm getting into to the habit of evaluating whether I really need and want to carry that extra item, and am thus buying/spending less.
          Some other people I know have reported the same.

          Colesworth will regret this

          but I am actually happy that they are unintentionally causing me to save money.
          People are arguing about whether it is good for the environment, but it will definitely be better for my bank balance.

          We have noticed over the years in my industry that by putting a nominal extra fee on our product/service that we got far less people interested in it.
          I am starting to think the plastic bag fee could have a similar effect with reduced impulse speding.

    • [Deactivated] on 11/07/2018 - 16:53

      Yep, this is why the claim they're doing it for the money is ridiculous.

      They'd much rather keep the almost costless at an individual level bags. The most they did was bring forward the phase-out and extend it to NSW for consistency (so people traveling interstate get used to it and don't get caught out / so they don't maintain a supply chain just for 1 state etc). Just one extra small impulse purchase would cover the cost of dozens of bags.

  • ozzpete on 10/07/2018 - 13:32
    +1

    Im using them once, atm, to bring groceries home, then repurpose the bag for putting kitchen rubish in. Same as I did with previous bags. Maybe I can buy the same type of bags as we used to get free with groceries. Im quite used to tying handle of bag, around kitchen cupboard handle, then when rubbish bag is full, then I tie the 2 handle together to keep it neatly contained until I go out to big bin outside.
    Maybe it would be better to buy a kitchen bin of sorts to hang off the cupboard or the bench somehow, then clean the kitchen bin out and use no plastic bag at all, but then you would be using up water and cleaning products (and I doubt most bin cleaning products are good on the environment).
    This free plastic bag ban, is very frustrating for those of us who always re-used or repurposed the old free plastic bags anyway.
    Now we have to buy plastic bags, and use them the same as the free bags anyway, yet there will only be 1 use instead of use as shopping bag, then 2nd use of bin liner or other uses . Therefore in effect, the ban on free plastic bags for supermarket shopping will often have an effect of worsening the impact on the environment. Im probably going to have to buy some cheap plastic bags to use for rubbish, and those bags will only be used once.

    • idonotknowwhy on 10/07/2018 - 14:35

      Im using them once, atm, to bring groceries home, then repurpose the bag for putting kitchen rubish in.

      Same here, I just have to pay 15c for it now.

      On this positive side, these bags are better quality and don't leak, so I don't have to double-bag the bin anymore, which is saving plastic I suppose.

    • [Deactivated] on 11/07/2018 - 16:51
      -1

      there will only be 1 use instead of use as shopping bag, then 2nd use of bin liner or other uses .

      Unless you don't bother actually consuming any groceries you buy, the volume of bin you need to line (assuming you feel the need to keep doing so) would assumedly be 25% to at most 50% of the volume of your shopping, and that's not including anything you'd be recycling without bagging at all.

      I used the old bags as free bin liners, but before I bought the reusable bags I'd always end up with 10x as many bags as I needed for the bin. The solution, throw out fistfuls of them every couple of weeks.

      If you compost you don't need to clean out your bin much because you're not throwing food scraps in it, you can always use the same bin liner for many weeks and take the whole smaller bin when going to the big bin.

    • [Deactivated] on 12/07/2018 - 22:58
      +1

      How clean does the inside of your bin need to be? Surely just enough to not smell. Which means some hot water and a bit of ordinary soap.

  • Powershopz on 10/07/2018 - 14:22

    What if…

    <philosoraptor> The bags are designed poorly to frustrate users and get them to swap to the stronger fabric/canvas bags? <philosoraptor>

    • Hardwood198 on 11/07/2018 - 20:02

      What if this is just a scheme by big corporate to decrease costs by $170 million and pad their bottom line?

      Oh and of course help the environment. Whatever that is

  • idonotknowwhy on 10/07/2018 - 14:26

    1

  • klonky on 10/07/2018 - 16:18

    Some time ago, Aldi had their trolley width sized fabric bags on sale. Whenever we do the shopping we just take those. Im finding it difficult to understand why people are finding it so hard to shop without having to buy a bag every single time. For the 'spur of the moment' shop, just carry a tote bag?

    • HighAndDry on 10/07/2018 - 16:23
      +4

      For the last bloody time, it's not that it's hard - it's that people have been conned into thinking this is good for the environment, when it's just good for the supermarkets. And then they (and now you, congrats) come over all superior like you're better than everyone else who're just critical of the supermarkets ripping people off.

      Seriously, some people here acting like they're Mother Teresa of the environment, all those years of slaving away taking reusable bags to the shops now paying off in internet points and street cred.

      • klonky on 10/07/2018 - 17:59
        +3

        Well it IS good for the environment when you stop using plastic bags altogether which is the main purpose of this. Stop blaming the supermarket for you being lazy.

        Also, how can they rip you off if you buy a cloth bag to use forever? The 15c is to change habits.

        • idonotknowwhy on 10/07/2018 - 18:40

          Nothing lasts forever

        • syousef on 10/07/2018 - 19:21

          The "enviro" bags are crap for the environment.

        • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 15:02

          when you stop using plastic bags altogether

          This ban doesn't do anything close to "stop using plastic bags altogether", and people could already not use plastic bags if they didn't want to.

      • [Deactivated] on 11/07/2018 - 14:48

        Solution. Don't shop there. They only exist as businesses for the good of themselves, profit is not a new thing they've just discovered.

  • syousef on 10/07/2018 - 19:23

    Minor rebellion: Keep some of the fabric bags in the car and pack your shopping at the car.

    May backfire if parking at the shopping center is free for X hours then paid.

    • cockneylondoner on 10/07/2018 - 22:04

      Or you could invest in something like these: https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1…

      The only parking time restriction for shopping I've seen is free for up to 3 hours and chargeable beyond that. Are you trying to say that you cannot do all of your shopping in under 3 hours, and if not, why don't you just leave and re-enter?

      • syousef on 11/07/2018 - 11:39

        So your solution is even more bags that you have to remember to take? My tip was going to be most useful for people who keep forgetting to bring their bags from the car. I don't see how spending more money on a different type of bag helps. (Maybe you were thinking that way you're not buying from the major supermarket chains?)

        The latest parking technology logs your license plate and you don't even need a ticket. It's in place at Rouse Hill shopping center. Not sure where else. If you re-enter within an hour you're charged for the whole period. Also how does one leave and re-enter in the middle of packing their shopping? Exiting and re-entering has always technically been against the rules. Now it seems they've found a practical way to enforce it. Of course they're selling "ticketless parking" as some huge advantage to the shopper.

        Between the bags, paying for parking, and online memberships (Amazon Prime, Ebay Plus, Catch of the Day) everyone wants to charge you for the privilege of being a customer.

        • [Deactivated] on 11/07/2018 - 14:47

          HAHAHAHAHA. Oh god, this is hilarious. Bringing your own bags pushes the time it takes to do groceries to be more than 3 hours.

          It's a free country. Shop elsewhere.

        • cockneylondoner on 11/07/2018 - 16:37

          Did you think about your reply before posting it?

        • syousef on 11/07/2018 - 21:29
          -1

          @Bargs:

          Nice straw man. Any comment beginning with "HAHAHAHAHA" deserves one response: Grow up.

          But I'll bite. Plenty of people take more than 3 hours to shop in shopping centers where they do more than buy groceries. Plenty end up paying for parking.

        • syousef on 11/07/2018 - 21:29
          -1

          @cockneylondoner:

          Did you think about your reply before posting it?

          A hell of a lot more than you apparently.

        • cockneylondoner on 12/07/2018 - 01:53

          @syousef:

          And your point is????

  • JIMB0 on 10/07/2018 - 21:04

    I'm yet to reuse one. Must have about 10 now.

  • cockneylondoner on 10/07/2018 - 21:49
    +1

    In England, large retailers must charge a 5p ($8.50) fee for plastic bangs all of which MUST go charity. Here is a link should you wish to read about it: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/carrier-bag-charg…
    It is thought that the use of plastic bags has reduced by 83% since the law was brought in.

    Plastic shopping bags, as supplied by Supermarkets, cost a fraction of a cent each to produce so with the likes of Coles and Woolworths charging 15c, none of which are they required to give to 'good causes', is just another example of retailers screwing their customers.

    I have heard that it has become a trend for one supermarket to ban a customer from using another supermarkets bag to take their shopping home. This, together with being asked to show the contents of a bag I might be carrying when I exit a store, is, I consider, an infringement of my human rights.

    If supermarkets have a genuine desire to reduce the amount of non-recyclable plastic they should start looking at the packaging they supply their goods in.

    • Brendoo on 11/07/2018 - 01:13
      +4

      “p” in England means pence. Not pounds. That is approx 9 cents Australiian.

      • cockneylondoner on 11/07/2018 - 05:50

        Thank you for pointing out my error in the conversion from pence to cents, which I did as an attempt to save some from having to do so, but I would have thought that it was obvious what I meant.

        • HighAndDry on 11/07/2018 - 11:05
          +2

          a 5p ($8.50) fee

          You obviously thought 5p = $8.50. Anyone who didn't know better and who needed the help with conversion would've been misled.

        • cockneylondoner on 11/07/2018 - 16:40

          @HighAndDry:

          Whatever you say - lol

      • [Deactivated] on 11/07/2018 - 14:42

        another example of retailers screwing their customers.

        Not in the top 1000 best examples though. Suspiciously getting a lot of airtime though, especially since purchasing 'plastic bags' would be a tiny fraction of the reason anyone actually buys from them.

        Complete BS about banning another supermarkets bags. In any case, I bought non-branded ones from eBay because I don't like being a walking billboard.

        Apparently, one customer re-used a bag enough that it was absolutely disgusting and foul and a supermarket refused once, in one shop, to put that bag in their bagging area. And this has translated to an anecdotal 'they're banning using competitors bags' which they've said publicly is false.

  • SlappersOnly on 10/07/2018 - 23:06

    just don't use the free bags? i've just been using the green bags since its started

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