So I was at Colesworth today buying some groceries and I was forced to buy plastic bags to put my stuff in. It made me realise that I don’t actually use fewer plastic bags, it just means I’m paying for them instead of the supermarket. Nice little scam they’ve got there btw. Have you cut down on the number of plastic bags you use at the supermarket?
Do You Actually Use Fewer Plastic Bags Now We Have to Pay for Them?
Comments
Exactly. Surprised on a place like OzBargain we're not all using the BYO reusable bags for shopping.
(I mean I don't use them because I can never remember to bring them along and I can't be stuffed to just keep them in my car or something smart like that, but I feel guilty about it at least is what I'm saying.)
Until you forget your bags on one trip, or need to drop into the shops on the way home without the bags for example. I have hoarded so many woolies carry bags.
Plus when you get delivery or online pick up, they pack into plastic.
Until you forget your bags on one trip
OK, and?
You still didn't buy bags every other time.
What even is your point, mate?
@ThithLord: His point (along with OPs) is that he is both lazy and forgetful, but like many people would rather rant about scams this and rip off that, when it's really their own behaviour that they are too lazy to change. No wonder our we are drowning the world in our own sh!t
@Jackson: It doesnt mean its not a rip off, Of course its a rip off, what was free is now charged for plus now if you want to use garbage etc you thenhave to pay for those bags as well. I always reused my bags sometimes for years till they completely fell apart.
@No ONE: brainwashed i guess. My ex used to work there during this period in the finance side of the woolworths. As well as i had a couple of mates one who was a project manager and the other was in the marketing / sales side. Frankly the company was ecstatic at the profits they were making out of not only selling plastic bags to consumers for numerous purposes (garbage etc) but also for not having to make and provide free ones when they shopped.
Being a massive company, a lot of people should have friends who worked in the back end of the business, ask them what the company was saying during all that.
@lonewolf: So true. Plastic bags are one of their biggest sellers. I remember the last day of the grey plastic bags. We had thousands of unused ones left. Guess where they went. In the god damn bin.
And people believe these big corporations when they say it's for the "environment" and all the other crap they peddle.@pufffdragon: It's amazing how many people fall for their BS I guess that's why they keep doing it. If you market it right people fall for it. Meanwhile people who work there know better.
@lonewolf: Yeah, unfortunately the majority of people are idiots and they know it. It will continue. People think the self serve checkouts are there for their "convenience".
I was with my store manager one day when the self serves got put in. This guy was literally laughing and saying , look at all the people I have working for free now.
@pufffdragon: Yup that’s the problem. People think it’s only a small thing so it’s not done for profit but rather for convenience but it’s always about profit with these companies. That small thing repeated a million times over makes them millions in profits every year. When you look up how much they save on not giving away bags for free per year it’s in the millions and that doesn’t take into account the other side where they now sell bags to people that’s even more than the profit from not having to give them away . It’s a double whammy for them. Same for the self serve counters. All the staff they don’t pay for repeated in all their stores….
@pufffdragon: The left over bags didn't go into the bin. That's a lie.
I was there. They were kept separate at the back on a pallet, yes there were a few boxes left per store.
They were collected by the Red cycle plastic recyclers and not thrown into the bin. This was 100% not allowed.
The left over bags didn't go into the bin. That's a lie
Did you work at the exact same store as me mate?
I've seen many things go in those bins over the years that shouldn't.
just use a trolley and put the items in the car boot
Put them in bags when you get home or use a big silicone bucket like we do
just use a trolley and put the items in the car boot
Sorry, but this is a silly suggestion.
I use bags for most grocery runs and it still ends up all over the inside of the car.
woolies has the option to use paper bags
@kiitos: From memory it's $1 for plastic bags or $1.50 for paper, and they're reimbursed if you've got delivery unlimited
With Coles you can pickup with no bags, you load from a trolley into your boot.
Boxes are the way for small/med shopping. No plastic, saves the staff from having to throw it away and its free.
Aldi: Diapers. Decent size box with only 3 items when full. So at worst case you have to empty out three items on the shelf.
Coles/Woolies/Supabarn: Look around and you'll eventually know which spots to look in. (Chips, tissues, fruit/veg)If they get too heavy, then a bag would be getting heavy too. Use a trolley with multiple boxes. Once I'm done with my box I put it in my kitchen, use it as a recycle bin then throw the whole thing out when its full.
This 1000%!! Just seems obvious to me
Those bags don’t last, they disintegrate into tiny pieces all throughout your car.
How on earth do these disintegrate. They're quite durable - They're not made of plastic. Even if they did, you can go replace/exchange them for free
They are made of plastic, polypropylene.
I hear that you have to use it more than 100 times to benefit the environment. Since the green bags are made of polypropylene they are weak against UV/sunlight. You need to keep them out of sunlight or they will "disintegrate".
I have found this, too, after maybe 20 uses, and they are apparently very long to degrade when recycled. I like the hessian bags and keep a BAGGU in my handbag for unexpected shopping.
I heard it was 21 times.
sunlight and heat.
people kept forgetting heat kills plastic too, especially when you park your car outside.
ffs, just get cotton bags, there are places that sell them. you can wash them even.
So leave them in your car boot.
@smartazz104: the car boot is not some magical esky.
chuck a themometer in there and check back a few hours later, see for yourself.
Must have gotten some magical ones then. I've been using the same ones the last 2.5 years…
What? I have been using those type of reusable bags for probably 10 years now, my only complaint is that the hard plastic bottom that was in them would break over time but it is completely superfluous anyway so I would just remove them when they broke.
I still have some that have been in constant rotation for maybe 10 years. I've had them tear before, but never disintegrate.
Same thing happened to me, was sun damage from leaving in back of car I believe (wagon)
See my comment above. I'm not 87, and the small takes up no room. That said, I am not having a go a someone who doesn't carry one.
They last a lifetime
That's comedy gold right there.
I've got a couple of these but some of them are so poorly made the stitching is already coming apart brand new. And given that you literally have to use them thousands of times to have the same environmental impact as single use plastic bags, I'm hesitant to get them exchanged because that pretty much defeats the purpose :<
But yeah, I've got a couple of these in the car, a couple at the front door and then those cheaper multiple use plastic bags from Colesworth since you can easily fold those and stash them in all your other bags for when I don't have those more durable ones with me.
But lots of people just put rubbish in the and throrow them away.
The old grey thin shopping bags were designed to break down quickly
As you said these new renewable ones last a lifetime
How can they be better for the environment?I can't use those as bin liners. I buy the plastic bags for bins now, whereas previously I will re-use the ones from shops.
Same, I get a perverse joy that I now buy large black bin liners for 4c each with likely 10x the plastic for my small bin - cheaper, easier and a better result. Was doing my thing for the environment reusing the free woolies bags for scraps now now a middle finger to the pretentious Dr's Wives and inner city zealots.
Yes, I also finding myself trying to fit more into the one bag. We also recycle the non-reusable bags as bin liners ie. fruit and veg bags
Yes, and smaller bags are good for bathroom bins.
Same.
I use the reusable bags all the time, but only, when buying in the store. I still need those plastic bags though, so now I'm forced to buy it. And they're used for the bin liner.So my plastic use hasn't actually decreased, it's merely gotten more expensive.
Why don't you just fold those reusable plastic bags you're buying at check out and put them in your bag so you can use them multiple times rather than just reusing them as bin liner once?
Because we need bin-liners?
Barely ever even use bags for shopping. Just buy less and hold the items or put in trolley and put items into car in a box. Worst case scenario, if I'm not driving then I'll pay for a 15c bag and reuse as bin-liner afterwards.
No way will I keep a bag in my pocket every time I go out just for the off chance I suddenly feel the urge to do some shopping.
@linkii: But you can buy dedicated bin liners that hold more per bag and isn't made of thick plastic that's designed to be multiple use.
Why didn't you have any bags with you?
Hahah. Was a supermarket by the train station, on the way home from work, I don’t carry grocery bags around with me all day.
There are thousands of bags you can get that wrap up to the size of a roll of coins.
How many excuses have you got, dude?
So everytime I go out I need to carry a little bag with me just in case I need to go to the supermarket?
I bet you don't do this either
@ThithLord: We’re not impressed, not with the way you speak to people. Ko0l was just making a point.
Check out how many negs you got to your comment above. It’s the way you say it that counts and I’m guilty of expressing myself the wrong way.
@bobwokeup: Considering you already admitted that you will not partake in the initiative, regardless of your no-driving circumstances, I think you should take a long and hard look in the mirror.
Regarding the negs: no such thing as bad publicity, mate
@ThithLord: I said no such thing, I have no idea how you came to that conclusion. I’ve been using reusable for many years and avoid driving when possible.
When we’re on the same page (assuming here based off your comments) when it comes to reducing waste, bad publicity on this topic makes people more stuck in their ways.
@bobwokeup: My apologies, it was a different user with a similar username to yours who was confrontational about the efficiency of using reusable bags whilst at the same time admitting they refuse to take part. Their username was ~Bobbified, yours is ~billybob, my mistake!
@ThithLord: Ah cool yeah no worries, I was shocked haha I get annoyed at people that don’t listen when it comes to changing their habits. I’m trying to learn not to get so emotional as the way I deliver it it’s always effective. I want to try and encourage people.
Why should somebody have an excuse for not having the same priorities as you?
@banana365: Bro OP made this thread denouncing the effectiveness of the initiative and their argument boils down to I CBF bothering to take bags with me, [thus the initiative is redundant].
Why did they post this, then?
@ThithLord: He'll be far from the only one with a similar approach. Looking at how quickly the stacks of plastic bags get depleted in our local supermarkets I'd say the process is still quite far from ideal. Many shops are swapping to paper bags and I think that's going to be the only way to kill off plastic bags.
Looking at how quickly the stacks of plastic bags get depleted in our local supermarkets I'd say the process is still quite far from ideal
Compared to how quickly the OG plastic bags were depleting whilst there was no ban? Sorry, your anecdotal observation doesn't cut it.
According to this article on CLF, the University of Sydney did a study on California USA's bag ban and found that:
The upshot of the Sydney study is that the California bag ban reduced plastic bag consumption [in California] by 71.5% – a huge decrease.
@ThithLord: So my anecdotal observation doesn't cut it, fair enough, but a study saying that there's still nearly 30% of the original usage is near enough to ideal for you. That 30% is very significant and includes people like OP, which is my entire point - don't discount what you're not aware of (and don't hammer someone for saying they're in that group). The effort to change the behaviour of that 30% now clearly has to be less carrot and more stick. Replacing plastic with paper is the stick.
@banana365: I see what you're trying to say but OP has posted a loaded thread, obviously denouncing the efficiency of the initiative.
Woolworths is phasing out reusable plastic bags by mid next year, you'll just get paper ones which are easy to recycle.
It's not really a scam when you forget to take your own bags though, you've had quite a while to adjust to it. I keep one of the stronger plastic bags in my work bag if I pop into the store after work and when I go shopping I always take bags, it's not hard to do.
Haven’t seen the plastic ones at Woolworths for weeks in Perth.
WA was the first market where Woolies phased them out in about April this year. Perhaps to test the waters in a single, smaller market and see how people would react? Win-win for them too, because it was one less thing they had to try and cram on a truck or train across the Nullarbor after parts of South Australia were turned into a swamp, and the supermarket shelves were bare as it was.
I haven't seen any Karen's abusing staff since they were removed. I just keep a bunch of reusable bags in the boot and have done for years. Woolies are good with their reusable bags, if they get ripped or broken in any way they replace them for free.
the scam isn't forgetting to take your bags, the scam is Woolies blatantly lying saying they were removing plastic bags for the environment when in fact they made millions selling plastic bags.
They make millions selling the same amount of bags they used to give away for free and now the bags are worse for the environment and take longer to break down.
Classic ‘being seen to be doing something’ policy where no one seems to care that the outcome has made us worse off.
… but they are using less bags and less plastic is going into landfill (because lots of people are reusing them)
@DiscountForThee: I see very few people reusing them. Every time I go to the supermarket I see people getting more bags. Coles and Woolies would have sold many many times over the number of bags required for the country if people were in any way inclined to reuse them.
The bags they provide are thicker, contain more plastic and are overall worse for the environment than the ones they replaced. But hey, who cares about the environment when you can virtue signal?
@bulletbill88: It's a good thing that you're not contributing to this then, right? And you have personally prevented hundreds if not thousands of bags ending up in landfill, right?
Also it's a great thing that your personal experience and observation counts for the whole Aus and that every demographic is the same as your confirmation bias :)
@DiscountForThee: It’s self evident that the bags are thicker and take longer to break down.
Sorry if I refuse to clap because Coles and Woolies virtue signal about using less plastic but don’t.
They could have switched to using paper and cardboard if they really wanted to use less plastic. They took the easy option and you want to applaud them?
@bulletbill88: When did I imply anything about praise? I was asking if you, personally, are using and encouraging others to use sustainable and renewable methods of transporting groceries?
@DiscountForThee: I’m not here to signal my own virtue. Just make the indisputable point that Coles and Woolies replaced one type of plastic bag with another.
@bulletbill88: You could also phrase it as: they replaced a free disposable product with something that has to be paid for, therefore financially encouraging others to use free methods of the same goal (transporting groceries from the store to your house). Is the world a worse place if everyone switched to sustainable bagging? No one is forcing you to buy the plastic bags from colesworth lmao
.. and virtue signalling by moving a week earlier than everyone else.
In addition they have those toy promotion things where they give away plastic junk to kids every $30 spend. Way to go woolies / coles
@WeeDeePotato: Yeah I hated the plastic ones too but they don’t do plastic the ones anymore thankfully.
Only for those that actually buy them. Speed cameras are also a scam by those that get caught by them. Don't speed don't get fined. Don't buy the plastic bags, don't get 'scammed'.
I usually remember to take a cotton bag with me - been using it for over 10 years. Wash it every 6 months when it gets dirty. If I forget it one time at Aldi/Woolies, I go and find a cardboard box.
Literally not hard. There was a time before plastic bags were a thing - paper bags/newspaper were used, etc. We've got quickly used to the convenience of plastic bags, we can quickly become un-used to it.
Just a matter of being organised.
Same with glad wrap. I've never used it. I can quite easily use plastic containers, but the way some people carry on it's like they can't live without glad wrap.
Everything old is new again, 40 years ago they had bags.
Yeah I just buy plastic bin-liners now. Way better for the environment.
Yes and No.
Yes, I use my own bags now, which cuts down on the single use supermarket bags.
But on the otherhand, I used to re-use the single use supermarket bags as bin liners. Now I have to buy bin liners.
Surely your grocery bag to bin liner ratio wasn't 1:1 though? We also did this but always accumulated more bags than needed for liners. We might buy new bin liners once a year in a 3 person household.
Yea, we had more than enough bags, but not by much, enough to partially fill our ikea bag dispenser.
Wait, you only buy bin liners once a year? How many do you buy at a time or am I using bin liners wrong? I throw out bin liners together with the trash and put in a new one. Each pack of $2 bin liners last me about a month.
I've also got into the habit of recycling soft plastic at the supermarket, food scraps go in the garden bin in our council, so what actually goes in our landfill bin is hardly anything and the stuff that is landfill does not stink. I can leave my bin liner in use for 2 weeks or more.
In fact our council has just changed the landfill bin to fortnightly and the garden/food bin to weekly.
People just need to learn to adjust, less waste.
@placard: Glad to hear I’m not the only one doing that. Feels like it often though.
We don’t even have a food bin with our council and our normal bin is still only 1/4 full every week if that. I wish our council changed the normal bin to fortnightly that’s a great idea.
Couldn’t agree more, people need to adjust to change it’s the world we live in now.
@bobwokeup: There was massive whinging when they first brought it in, but you're right, people just need to adjust. Stop buying so much stuff that requires waste. I buy veggies loose to avoid plastic wraps/trays, etc.
If you don't have a food bin have you thought about a compost bin in your yard? I used to use one and it was really great how you just throw in food scraps and it turns it back into rich soil which I spread across the garden beds. The soil quality improved greatly and the plants loved it.
Yeah, we have one small bin every few weeks in our landfill bin.
People just need to adjust. It's not hard. Same with how reliant we've become on cars. If something is a 2 minute drive or 10 minute walk, I'll walk. More exercise, save petrol, and less impact on environment.
The councils reasoning was literally that we just cannot keep adding to landfill at this rate. There's just not the capacity to do so.
Just get some of these
They last a lifetime, have been using the same few bags on rotation for many years now.