5p for a carrier bag......!!

[Thunder Bolt]

I'm all for this on the environmental factor, it's been this way on the continent for years. By the checkouts they leave the cardboard from deliveries so you can box up your groceries and carry them to your car.

It's easy to remember to take your own bag. I wish the supermarkets would do away with plastic bags altogether. If a bag is necessary then sell a paper carrier bag that will biodegrade.

the government are missing a trick here, they could give bags to pensioners and ask them to stick them over their heads.
therby relieving them of having to payout any extra benifits, killing two birds with one stone so to speak

Why do pensioners need extra benefits? I am not well off by any means, but content with what I have.

 

[beorhthelm]

daft idea. dont care if it appears to work elsewhere, the premise behind it is suspect and the implementation flawed. carrier bags do not last forever as the greens would have it, leave one out in daylight and it will disintegrate in short time. in land fill that are a rounding error on a fraction of a thousandth of % of the bulk, i.e. sq root of **** all affect. and as smaller size shops are exempt the problem of littering will still be with us, those are the most likely to be discarded in the environment. and btw, if it is successful in reducing use, it wont raise much money. its a tax on convenience.

 

[Bwian]

If the problem of unnecessary plastic use for consumer goods and food packaging was addressed as well then we could accept the 5p charges are 'for the benefit of the environment'.

As much non-recyclable plastic wrapping and containers go to landfill as plastic shopping bags. Vegetables get sold in plastic bags that are mainly non-recyclable.

 

[The Modfather]

At last, long overdue

 

[GT49er]

Perfectly happy with the idea in principle. What I would like to know in detail is what happens to all those 5Ps - I read in one of the previous posts that one company at least intends to give this to charity - fine, but has this been made compulsory (and safe from avoidance or evasion) or can Mr. Tesco or Mr. Sainsbury, if feeling a little short of the readies, just add it in to their profits?
That would not be acceptable, so what has been included in the legislation to ring-fence the money?

 

[Hillian1]

I'm going to take all my bags of bags and stand outside Tesco, flog them at 3p each.

I'll be made for life.

 

[Nibble]

daft idea. dont care if it appears to work elsewhere, the premise behind it is suspect and the implementation flawed. carrier bags do not last forever as the greens would have it, leave one out in daylight and it will disintegrate in short time. in land fill that are a rounding error on a fraction of a thousandth of % of the bulk, i.e. sq root of **** all affect. and as smaller size shops are exempt the problem of littering will still be with us, those are the most likely to be discarded in the environment. and btw, if it is successful in reducing use, it wont raise much money. its a tax on convenience.

You're just simply wrong. On all counts. The problem with plastic bags is they do not break down completely. They may appear to the naked eye to be decomposing but the plastic nano-particles never biodegrade, they end up in the water table, they then enter our oceans and are responsible for poisoning marine life and the destruction of coral reef. It really is a problem.

 

[BensGrandad]

I would suggest that all the big supermarkets nominate a national charity and dknate the 5p to that and that the costs be excuded from tax claim back.

 

[Muhammed - I’m hard - Bruce Lee]

Carrier bags are still free at One Pound Five Land

 

[Hereford Gull]

At 5p they are no more expensive than bin liners in Waitrose.

 

[beorhthelm]

You're just simply wrong. On all counts. The problem with plastic bags is they do not break down completely. They may appear to the naked eye to be decomposing but the plastic nano-particles never biodegrade, they end up in the water table, they then enter our oceans and are responsible for poisoning marine life and the destruction of coral reef. It really is a problem.

so why are the massive volumes of other plastic packaging being addressed? apples that come in styrofoam and plastic covering? cereal liners? of course you need some packaging to hold/protect the goods in transit. as i do when I've popped into the supermarket for a half dozen items to carry home.

i completely accept they dont fully biodegrade, but the impact of that? infinitesimal in the grand scheme. i ditched an broken vacuum this weekend, i wonder how many bags worth of plastic were contained therein? the original anti-bag argument was over them being a blight in the landscape because they cause litter, ignoring the presence of all other litter. a degradable bag is still litter as it flutters around for weeks. its a fig leaf policy that doesn't address any real environmental issue, but is high profile so people feel "something is being done".

 

[Norman Potting]

I think it is a condition, not an option, that the 5p's collected go to charity.

 

[Nibble]

so why are the massive volumes of other plastic packaging being addressed? apples that come in styrofoam and plastic covering? cereal liners? of course you need some packaging to hold/protect the goods in transit. as i do when I've popped into the supermarket for a half dozen items to carry home. i ditched an broken vacuum this weekend, i wonder how many bags worth of plastic were contained therein?

i completely accept they dont fully biodegrade, but the impact of that? infinitesimal in the grand scheme. the original anti-bag argument was over them being a blight in the landscape because they cause litter, ignoring the presence of all other litter. a degradable bag is still litter as it flutters around for weeks. its a fig leaf policy that doesn't address any real environmental issue, but is high profile so people feel "something is being done".

It's a high profile, excellent way to motivate and spread awareness for sure. If you're looking at the bigger issues, yep, plenty more to be done to make a dent in the global crisis.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

I'm going to take all my bags of bags and stand outside Tesco, flog them at 3p each.

I'll be made for life.

You should be on the 'Is there any alternative to working for the rest of my life?' thread with ideas like that.

 

[Diego Napier]

daft idea. dont care if it appears to work elsewhere, the premise behind it is suspect and the implementation flawed. carrier bags do not last forever as the greens would have it, leave one out in daylight and it will disintegrate in short time. in land fill that are a rounding error on a fraction of a thousandth of % of the bulk, i.e. sq root of **** all affect. and as smaller size shops are exempt the problem of littering will still be with us, those are the most likely to be discarded in the environment. and btw, if it is successful in reducing use, it wont raise much money. its a tax on convenience.

You are wrong. Plastic bags do not disintegrate in a short time. They are made from petroleum and do not bio-degrade; they will take anywhere between 10 and 100 years to decompose in ultraviolet light and will eventually decompose in landfill but in timeframes of hundreds of years.

I realise the focus of this thread is England but worldwide, it is estimated that there are more than 1 trillion plastic bags produced, equating to 100 million barrels of oil. Surely any effort that will reduce this consumption, however small, is welcome?

Vast numbers of plastic bags end up in the sea where they are even less susceptible to mechanical decomposition. In their non-deconstructed state they do pose a small threat to marine wildlife but far more significantly, scientists are becoming increasingly concerned by the amount of plastic ingested by organisms at the base of the marine food that inevitably finds its way into humans. Anthropogenic debris has increasingly been found to contain a cocktail of toxic chemicals. Obviously plastic bags are not the only source of this pollution but baby steps and mighty oaks and all that.

To high-handedly dismiss the 5p initiative as a "tax on convenience" is simply selfish and crass.

 

[Puppet Master]

I'm happy to pay it personally.

It's only 5p after all and if I do forget my bags it's an incentive to not buy so much food.

 

[wellquickwoody]

Been using it in Wales for 5 years. About time England followed suit

5 Years, one bag? Really is a bag for life.....

 

[Phil B]

You are wrong. Plastic bags do not disintegrate in a short time. They are made from petroleum and do not bio-degrade; they will take anywhere between 10 and 100 years to decompose in ultraviolet light and will eventually decompose in landfill but in timeframes of hundreds of years.

I realise the focus of this thread is England but worldwide, it is estimated that there are more than 1 trillion plastic bags produced, equating to 100 million barrels of oil. Surely any effort that will reduce this consumption, however small, is welcome?

Vast numbers of plastic bags end up in the sea where they are even less susceptible to mechanical decomposition. In their non-deconstructed state they do pose a small threat to marine wildlife but far more significantly, scientists are becoming increasingly concerned by the amount of plastic ingested by organisms at the base of the marine food that inevitably finds its way into humans. Anthropogenic debris has increasingly been found to contain a cocktail of toxic chemicals. Obviously plastic bags are not the only source of this pollution but baby steps and mighty oaks and all that.

To high-handedly dismiss the 5p initiative as a "tax on convenience" is simply selfish and crass.

So why stop at plastic bags? Why not drink cans, lager, bitter, cider, coke, etc - all littering public areas and not biodegradeable. Or plastic bottles?

 

[wellquickwoody]

the government are missing a trick here, they could give bags to pensioners and ask them to stick them over their heads.
therby relieving them of having to payout any extra benifits, killing two birds with one stone so to speak

Or put kittens in them to throw in the river, thereby reducing the money required by old dears to feed their cats, and allowing us to freeze the old age pension for a while?

 

[Worried Man Blues]

Bag up men