shocked almost to the point of speechlessness...
By jb78000
@jb78000 (15139)
October 3, 2009 10:02am CST
...the daily mail once got something right. in between its endless and very tiring campaigns against immigrants it once launched a campaign about plastic bags. admittedly a good long time ago but i was horrified to see it losing its grip in such a way when i was looking for a link to go with this discussion.
anyway - this is another irritating conservation one - i have noticed several users complaining about having to pay for plastic bags when they go shopping. apart from the wastefulness of this there is a reason that environmentalists have been banging on about reusing bags for some time. they are very good at throttling and choking various animals - in particular turtles, dolphins and seabirds. do you bother to take reuseable bags when you go shopping or do you usually forget? would you remember if you got charged for them? how much would jog your memory?
unlikely daily mail link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-519770/Banish-The-Bags-The-Mail-launches-campaign-clean-country---planet.html
1 person likes this
8 responses
@celticeagle (189792)
• Boise, Idaho
9 Oct 09
Horrible thing. I never think. I see some stuffed up by check out sometime and still I don't think. I really need to think. I need to put some in my car for trash anyway. I have hords of them in the house too that I could certainly get rid of. Maybe I will put alot in the car and try to remember using them.
2 people like this
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
6 Oct 09
I started a discussion about this a while back and I'm really torn on the whole issue. In my area the cashiers are so bychty about having to use the reusable bags. I have taken my bags in so many times and the cashier just sets them back in my cart and won't use them. I get so pissed because then I have to haul them to the special place to recycle them.
2 people like this
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
27 Nov 09
They don't want to "touch the dirty bags"....
1 person likes this
@jb78000 (15139)
•
27 Nov 09
piffle. i'd just tell them to bog off then and pack myself. here most of the supermarkets give you extra points on reward cards for each bag you reuse, they ask if you need help packing and i always say no but i can't see any being silly enough to say, hey i am not putting anything in that. anyway my new cunning plan is to buy say 20 tomatoes, use a separate bag for each one and see what happens. could be my road to riches 
1 person likes this
@Capsicum (1444)
• United States
4 Oct 09
It think its a great idea ,we always take or own eco. bags to the store.Although they still give plastic ones out free here.They are not giving paper anymore ,so it leaves us with little choice. I have not been to Germany in over 15 years,At that time the people took eco bags already. Wake up America ! WE are a lazy bunch who think of no one ,but our selves.But those of us who do think,are far and few between.I guess that's better than none.
@jb78000 (15139)
•
4 Oct 09
germany has been ahead of the game with regard to the environment for ages. the uk has always lagged behind the rest of europe on this (and other things). yes we still get free plastic bags here too but most places have finally started asking if you want one rather than just handing one over automatically. i honestly think a small charge should be made for them - the shops will love that and it gives people a reason to reuse.
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
5 Oct 09
I started using reuseable bags this year. I also find that I get a credit for using them. Which leads me to believe that there is a bag charge built into my grocery prices. Sometimes I forget to take them out of the car, but once in a while I deliberately don't bring them because I need a small supply of paper/plastic bags for other things.
1 person likes this
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
3 Oct 09
Hi jb, I save all the csrrier bags and use them as rubbish bags thus no need to buy rubbish bags. As you will recall from your stay in Greece we require bags for waste in the toilet bin, as well as for house rubbish, so all our bags get rusued, and of course we don't have dustins so take our full bags of rubbish to the rubbish bin skips on the sides of the road.
@jb78000 (15139)
•
3 Oct 09
that is very sensible. you get a reuse ecological gold (or green) star. 
. btw i know this discussion was a bit on the burbling on about the environment side but marine life needs resurrected from time to time and (you may have gathered) it is something i have strong feelings on...
. btw i know this discussion was a bit on the burbling on about the environment side but marine life needs resurrected from time to time and (you may have gathered) it is something i have strong feelings on...
@sunny68 (1327)
• India
3 Oct 09
there was a campaign against plastic bags but it didn't gain momentum. plastic bags are very cheap and common and there are no substitutes. however large retail chains have replaced plastic bags with reusable jute bags which is definitely a good idea. although they give it for free but if customers are charged for it (maybe a higher price) then they will certainly remember the next time they go shopping (to avoid the high cost of jute bag)
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
5 Oct 09
What a pity we can't educate humans. I know plastic bags cause much harm to sea and bird life, but it is because of irresponsible humans. If plastic bags were used and disposed of in a sensible way, there would be no problem.
Many of our stores here in Australia are using compostable and bio-degradable bags, but even these will cause damage to sea life when used irresponsibly.
