topic Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up in Community Spirit

Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

davidc4430 — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 10:34:28 GMT

Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-06-20/plastic-bag-ban-options/9874474

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

shoppingbag* — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 20:49:49 GMT

Just another stupid "nanny" law that punishes us all for the actions of a few. Punish the perpetrators and leave the rest of us alone, is what I say!

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

marwi5023 — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 21:28:27 GMT

I believe that it doesn't go far enough and all plastic should be banned.
Plastic hasn't been around that long. We did live without it for a very long time

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

lyhargr_0 — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 22:01:08 GMT

@marwi5023 wrote:
I believe that it doesn't go far enough and all plastic should be banned.
Plastic hasn't been around that long. We did live without it for a very long time

I dont have prob using plastic containers to store food but not those take away ones, far too many of those around today, they are garbage and just end up at the tip ( or worse ).... I have been using my own bags at all the supermarkets for ages, if they get grubby, I give 'em a wash ..... My pet hates are cling wrap and polystrene trays, I wont have them in my home.

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

marwi5023 — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 22:10:24 GMT

If I haven't eaten all my food I wrap it in alfoil. Then I can just heat it in the oven to eat later.
I don't have a microwave since it broke.
I very rarely have left overs and the only thing I throw out is bones.

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

springyzone — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 22:36:13 GMT

I'm not convinced that banning the bags was made for environmental reasons at all. I suspect supermarkets see it as a cost saver.

I bought special bags a few months ago. They have dowling or some such thing in the handles, so they can hang open in the trolley. When not in use, they roll up and can hang on the hook near the handle of the trolley. So when I get to the checkout, i unload the groceries, then unfurl the bags and I can pack the groceries as they are scanned. This is in Aldi's i have to point out.

I think their set up is probably going to be the most efficient. Asking check out people to handle used bags might become a bit of an issue down the line for health reasons.

I read a woolies ad where they said once one of their bags wears out they will replace it for free & i think that sounds like a fairer solution. Then if a checkout operator struck a dirty bag, they could whip out a new one instead. The only trouble with them is they are long so a bit awkward to carry around if you want to browse other shops first. And I have learnt from experience to use the bigger bags only for light things or they get too heavy to lift.

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

travlyn2012 — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 04:58:04 GMT

I was talking to one of the Barmaids at a club on Monday evening, after I made a comment about them still having plastic straws.

She told me she went to a woolies store, no plastic bags and had ran out of other bags to put her groceries in.

Said she was quite annoyed , and walked out leaving all the groceries in the trolley, and said that she and her husband are thinking of taking a wheelbarrow next time they go to the store.

I haven't met her husband , but knowing her, it wouldn't surprise me if that's what they do.

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

travlyn2012 — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 05:39:20 GMT

https://au.news.yahoo.com/not-good-look-customers-slam-woolworths-plastic-bag-ban-123623547.html

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

myoclon1cjerk — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 07:10:13 GMT

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-03/whale-dies-in-thailand-after-swallowing-80-plastic-bags/9829480?pfmredir=sm

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

lyhargr_0 — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 07:38:04 GMT

@springyzone wrote:
I'm not convinced that banning the bags was made for environmental reasons at all. I suspect supermarkets see it as a cost saver.

I bought special bags a few months ago. They have dowling or some such thing in the handles, so they can hang open in the trolley. When not in use, they roll up and can hang on the hook near the handle of the trolley. So when I get to the checkout, i unload the groceries, then unfurl the bags and I can pack the groceries as they are scanned. This is in Aldi's i have to point out.

I think their set up is probably going to be the most efficient. Asking check out people to handle used bags might become a bit of an issue down the line for health reasons.

I read a woolies ad where they said once one of their bags wears out they will replace it for free & i think that sounds like a fairer solution. Then if a checkout operator struck a dirty bag, they could whip out a new one instead. The only trouble with them is they are long so a bit awkward to carry around if you want to browse other shops first. And I have learnt from experience to use the bigger bags only for light things or they get too heavy to lift.

.

Are the dowel handles removable?

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

davidc4430 — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 09:26:15 GMT

wont the sticky out stick bits knock stuff off the shelves when your passing the two ladies discusing world affairs in aisle 9?

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

lyhargr_0 — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 21:17:50 GMT

No aisle 9 in Aldi lol but the handles would need to be able to be removed, so the bags could be washed

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

chameleon54 — Sat, 23 Jun 2018 03:49:12 GMT

@travlyn2012 wrote:
https://au.news.yahoo.com/not-good-look-customers-slam-woolworths-plastic-bag-ban-123623547.html

The article notes that the re-usable shopping bags will need to be used from 20 - 100 times before they become more environmentally friendly than single use bags. We have had the bag ban in place in SA for several years now and I doubt that any of our bags would have been re-used 20 times, let alone 100. By the third or fourth re-use the handles on the 15 cent bags have stretched or pulled off, or the bags have become crumpled and soiled. The canvas type green bags perish, fade and wear over time and end up tearing once they have had a few uses.

Basically this is just another example of people and commercial corporates wanting to look and feel like they are doing something important, with little understanding or genuine care of the real impact they are having, which is often more damaging than the initial problem they are trying to address.

The same thing is happening with many products that we re-cycle. The damage to the environment of washing and collecting re-cyclable materials, transporting them to a recycling facility ( often internationally based, China being very active in the market ) and the energy used and pollution caused in the actual recycling process is often much more environmentally damaging than sending the same items to a local land fill site.

Personally I think it would be much better to have a basic sorting process for rubbish and then " landfill store " it in relatively local, environmentally stable and secure "earth banks " to be mined and re-used at some point in the future when our natural resources have become more depleted and technological advances and economic imperatives make it more worthwhile and environmentally sound to recycle the rubbish.

Unfortunately this doesnt make the urban shopper or grocery giant feel all warm and fuzzy about how enviromentally responsible they are. Its all about image with little genuine understanding or care about the real substance of the issue.

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

bestbits1 — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 03:38:24 GMT

I have stopped impulse buying, now strictly what is on the shopping list, just in case it doesn't all fit into the bag I take with me.

Some decision makers justify their existence by imposing their stupidity on the rest of us.

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

davidc4430 — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 04:10:50 GMT

what i find annoying is i thought all the stuff i put in my recycle bin was getting recycled here, creating jobs for australians.

but now i find we were just sending our carp to china, problem solved!

oh, china has woken up to the scam, now we must take care of our own carp, PANIC!

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

springyzone — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 04:16:18 GMT

@davidc4430 wrote:
wont the sticky out stick bits knock stuff off the shelves when your passing the two ladies discusing world affairs in aisle 9?

Did give me a laugh but the bags aren't in the trolley like that till the checkout. They are rolled up till everything has been unpacked.

I get many admiring glances & comments from fellow shoppers, asking where I got them.

I suppose more & more of us will have to have these sorts of things now.

Personally, I am all for looking after the environment but I believe this whole business of cutting out the bags is a cover for shops saving money.

If we really want to cut out on waste, how about cutting out the pre cut vegies in bags, the biscuits that are in layers of wrap and so on. The actual supermarket bag was the tip of the iceberg. I was reading in the paper too that re-using the green bags has upped the rate of poisoning/death. They put it down to leakage eg from meat and the bags should not be washed, not if you want them to last.

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

lyhargr_0 — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 04:27:53 GMT

Have always washed our re usable bags, never had a problem ..... No way I am going to put my food is a dirty bag

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

travlyn2012 — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 05:11:15 GMT

https://au.news.yahoo.com/joke-customers-furious-woolworths-ridiculous-use-plastic-bag-ban-094708815.html

More plastic products that may disappear in the next few years.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/everyday-items-banned-within-five-years-045054583.html

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

davidc4430 — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 06:56:45 GMT

@springyzone wrote:
@davidc4430 wrote:
wont the sticky out stick bits knock stuff off the shelves when your passing the two ladies discusing world affairs in aisle 9?
Did give me a laugh but the bags aren't in the trolley like that till the checkout. They are rolled up till everything has been unpacked.
I get many admiring glances & comments from fellow shoppers, asking where I got them.
I suppose more & more of us will have to have these sorts of things now.

Personally, I am all for looking after the environment but I believe this whole business of cutting out the bags is a cover for shops saving money.
If we really want to cut out on waste, how about cutting out the pre cut vegies in bags, the biscuits that are in layers of wrap and so on. The actual supermarket bag was the tip of the iceberg. I was reading in the paper too that re-using the green bags has upped the rate of poisoning/death. They put it down to leakage eg from meat and the bags should not be washed, not if you want them to last.

ok, silly me, thought you put the stuff in bags as you went along. forgot about the checkout bit.

here in south oz we went to bring ya own bags a few years ago, woolies redid the checkouts to suit the new cloth bags so they can hang on a rotating frame. still dont bloomin work properly tho.

now i see they have new bags just arrived, with some sort of garantee if they wear out you can get free replacents.

Re: Plastic bag bans: Here's how the alternatives stack up

lyhargr_0 — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 07:12:10 GMT

@travlyn2012 wrote:

https://au.news.yahoo.com/joke-customers-furious-woolworths-ridiculous-use-plastic-bag-ban-094708815.html

More plastic products that may disappear in the next few years.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/everyday-items-banned-within-five-years-045054583.html

Given they are packaged in PET plastic, I cant really see a problem

Banning plastic bags wont solve the total problem re plastic packaging etc. but at least it's a start .... Yes, it will save the supermarets a few bucks, it may also save a few marine lives as well ......