Why I Pick Woolies!

[icyfroth]

From today, Woolworths customers nationwide will have the option of purchasing paper shopping bags to carry their shopping home in.

The new carry bags, which were trialed successfully at a number of Woolworths stores last year, have been introduced to meet growing customer demand for alternatives which can be easily recycled in household curbside collection.

Made from 70 percent recycled paper, the bags will be sold at cost for 20 cents, in addition to the supermarket’s existing reusable plastic bags and Bag for Good options.

All paper used has been sourced responsibly, as certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, with non-recycled paper used in conjunction with recycled paper to provide a stronger structure. The bags have been tested to carry up to 6kg worth of groceries.

Woolworths Supermarkets Managing Director Claire Peters said: ”While the vast majority of our customers bring their own bags, we know customers sometimes drop by a store unplanned or can forget their bags when they’re on the run.

”For some time, customers have told us they’d like the option of a strong paper bag option, so we’re pleased to now offer that choice at our checkouts, alongside our existing reusable plastic bags.

https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/discover/paper-bag-update

Well there ya go!

Back to the old days (1970s, when I was a checkout-chick) before plastic shopping bags, when we used to use our own bags or paper sacks to take our groceries home. Or have them delivered.

I'm really liking that Woolies is offering the recycled paper bags option.

[zanadoo_56]

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@joztamps wrote:

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@zanadoo_56 wrote:

I'm old enough to remember why we switched from paper bags to plastic ones.....to save the trees.  Now we are going to back to paper bags and people are getting angry that the bags come from China instead of Oz.

Let China chop down trees to make bags if they want to.  We keep our trees and the anti plastic bag group are presumably happy....until of course someone gets worried about China's trees and the whole stupid debate starts over again.

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The issue is not where they come from, the issue is whether on a Life-Cycle Assessment/Analysis these PR-inspired single-use bags are more or less environmentally sustainable and efficient than the multi-use plastic bags.

China and Australia are part of the same world and the same environment.

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Actually if you read the supermarket FB comments, the issue IS that the paper bags are from China and not Oz according to a lot of complaints.  You know the kind: "Why are you stocking bags from China?  Why aren't they made here? I'm never shopping at Woolies again...and I will tell all my friends not to as well."  blah blah blah 

THAT is what I was commenting on.

I have no opinion on where they come from, only that paper bags being FAR less durable than plastic ones mean reusing them would be far less and more would have to be made.  Is that good or not?  That was the question all those years ago.

[icyfroth]

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@zanadoo_56 wrote:

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@joztamps wrote:

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@zanadoo_56 wrote:

I'm old enough to remember why we switched from paper bags to plastic ones.....to save the trees.  Now we are going to back to paper bags and people are getting angry that the bags come from China instead of Oz.

Let China chop down trees to make bags if they want to.  We keep our trees and the anti plastic bag group are presumably happy....until of course someone gets worried about China's trees and the whole stupid debate starts over again.

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The issue is not where they come from, the issue is whether on a Life-Cycle Assessment/Analysis these PR-inspired single-use bags are more or less environmentally sustainable and efficient than the multi-use plastic bags.

China and Australia are part of the same world and the same environment.

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Actually if you read the supermarket FB comments, the issue IS that the paper bags are from China and not Oz according to a lot of complaints.  You know the kind: "Why are you stocking bags from China?  Why aren't they made here? I'm never shopping at Woolies again...and I will tell all my friends not to as well."  blah blah blah 

THAT is what I was commenting on.

I have no opinion on where they come from, only that paper bags being FAR less durable than plastic ones mean reusing them would be far less and more would have to be made.  Is that good or not?  That was the question all those years ago.

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Well my opinion as to the question of "durability" , is that, no.

Paper bags are not as durable as plastic bags, which means  they can recycle back into the earth's natural decomposition cycle.

Plastic on the other hand, can last ror centuries, and in it's various  guises, can create all sorts of hazards for wildlife.

Not to mention, plastic uses all sorts of mined mineral composites, like oil and petroluem, which just don't recycle back into the environment it came from. Ever.

Best advice would be: bring your own re-usable carry-bags wherever possible.

[4channel]

Cloth type bags are the best as you can thow them in the washing with the other stuff. Some of the carry bags that people get from Woolies and Coles etc. have lead content. Not good to mix in with the other stuff.

[zanadoo_56]

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Well my opinion as to the question of "durability" , is that, no.

Paper bags are not as durable as plastic bags, which means  they can recycle back into the earth's natural decomposition cycle.

Plastic on the other hand, can last ror centuries, and in it's various  guises, can create all sorts of hazards for wildlife.

Not to mention, plastic uses all sorts of mined mineral composites, like oil and petroluem, which just don't recycle back into the environment it came from. Ever.

Best advice would be: bring your own re-usable carry-bags wherever possible.

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Bringing bags is irrelevant for me - I no longer visit supermarkets because I am housebound and rely on grocery deliveries (Coles and Wooles) which means at the moment the deliveries in my area are in plastic bags. There is no other option.

When Covid is (hopefully) a distant memory Coles will probably go back to their NO bags bench deliveries which I prefer. 

Woolies however...who knows?  I have more use for their plastic bags (and not necessarily for rubbish) than paper bags that easily split.  So far they haven't introduced paper bags for deliveries in my area.

[icyfroth]

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@zanadoo_56 wrote:

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Well my opinion as to the question of "durability" , is that, no.

Paper bags are not as durable as plastic bags, which means  they can recycle back into the earth's natural decomposition cycle.

Plastic on the other hand, can last ror centuries, and in it's various  guises, can create all sorts of hazards for wildlife.

Not to mention, plastic uses all sorts of mined mineral composites, like oil and petroluem, which just don't recycle back into the environment it came from. Ever.

Best advice would be: bring your own re-usable carry-bags wherever possible.

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Bringing bags is irrelevant for me - I no longer visit supermarkets because I am housebound and rely on grocery deliveries (Coles and Wooles) which means at the moment the deliveries in my area are in plastic bags. There is no other option.

In that case, as a responsible citizen, you wouldr e-use them as much as possible before they end up in landfill.

When Covid is (hopefully) a distant memory Coles will probably go back to their NO bags bench deliveries which I prefer. 

Woolies however...who knows?  I have more use for their plastic bags (and not necessarily for rubbish) than paper bags that easily split.  So far they haven't introduced paper bags for deliveries in my area.

Ok, I know it's not much, but at least they're turned around a cpl of times before they go into the environment.

I use the produce bags for wet rubbish, as in kitchen waste, and use the paper bags for recycling waste.

PS...I don't thing COVID will be a distant memory in our lifetime.

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[zanadoo_56]

QUOTE: In that case, as a responsible citizen, you wouldr e-use them as much as possible before they end up in landfill.

Hmm, I don't like your tone re that comment.

I AM a responsible citizen, thank you very much. 

I now use the large Coles plastic carry bags to sort and store bed sheet sets and towel sets, Christmas decorations...and more besides.  With a black marker pen I can write on the bags the design / colours and any other details.

I use a pickup walking frame so anything I need to move from room to room (including food which has to be put in sealed containers) are carried in plastic bags.  Paper ones are too flimsy.

I still have the green poly bags (some I've repaired) from years ago and they are being used as well.

Landfill?  It will be years and years before the above bags will need to be discarded.

Paper ones barely last and are most likely to be single use.  There's also potential destruction of forests to make them.

*shrugs*

[domino-710]

As a responsible citizen - that's rich Zan - in fact quite the insult.

[icyfroth]

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@zanadoo_56 wrote:

QUOTE: In that case, as a responsible citizen, you wouldr e-use them as much as possible before they end up in landfill.

Hmm, I don't like your tone re that comment.

I AM a responsible citizen, thank you very much. 

I now use the large Coles plastic carry bags to sort and store bed sheet sets and towel sets, Christmas decorations...and more besides.  With a black marker pen I can write on the bags the design / colours and any other details.

I use a pickup walking frame so anything I need to move from room to room (including food which has to be put in sealed containers) are carried in plastic bags.  Paper ones are too flimsy.

I still have the green poly bags (some I've repaired) from years ago and they are being used as well.

Landfill?  It will be years and years before the above bags will need to be discarded.

Paper ones barely last and are most likely to be single use.  There's also potential destruction of forests to make them.

*shrugs*

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Well I'm sorry you interpreted it that way.

I meant that you were a responsible citizen and would of cours re-use your plasic bags in a responsible way.

Ultiimately, the plastic bags will pollute, but at least you'll have put them to good use in the meatime, is what I meant.

And I'm sorry certain trls had to jump on the bandwagon to infer insult not intended.

[chameleon54]

I,m not that big on worrying about shopping bags, but one thing I have done that has worked a treat is to make a giant compost bin. Most of the smaller ones get full quickly, before the waste has broken down and need to be turned, moistened and basically take a fair bit of work, to get them composting. That's fine if you have the time to muck around with them, but I thought there has to be a better way.

I took a black, 1000 litre rainwater tank that was shaped like a giant flower pot. Cut the top off. Cut the bottom out of it and put a hinge on it for a lid. Turned it upside down and put it in a moist shaded section of the garden. I then seeded it with special worms from a commercial composting farm. ( we run sheep on their un-used ground )

Its like the never ending packet of tim tams. It doesn't matter how much stuff you put into it, it never fills up. All of the household food waste goes in it. Several catchers full of lawn clippings every week or two. All of the green waste and weeds from the garden and I clean out the poo and straw from the stock trailer and put that in for good measure. It even gets quite a bit of ash from the fireplace.

Every 18 months or so we just lift it off the heap and usually have around 500 litres of rich black compost in the bottom to spread on the lawn or garden. The top layer that hasn't broken down yet, just gets put back in and the whole process starts over again.

We virtually never put the green waste bin out for collection and the only time we touch the compost bin is when we empty it once every 18 months. 

[bright.ton42]

,m not that big on worrying about shopping bags, but one thing I have done that has worked a treat is to make a giant compost bin. M

I just love compost  and my epitaph may read Very good at Composting  lol.  Mine is on a small scale but I layer it, water and turn it, and in no time it has become rich soil.  I think the secret(for me anyway)   is to add a lot of orange peel as it gives it a beautiful fragrance.

Back on topic, just had a big Coles delivery (very big after several weeks) and he arrived at the door and said he wasn't allowed in due to Corona.  No way could I lift those heavy bags....... sore back ...... so I pleaded with him and finally be brought them in.  A bit OTT i think as this is regional NSW which has been covid free for months and restrictions are very relaced.

But a heads up that this seems to be their general rule now.