Cycleband/Ikoagora/Grand

[memory man]

.....have started charging 5 cents for a carrier bag.

[trevnhil]

Phew... They must be one of the first to make charge apart from Lidl who have been doing this for ages.
We visited a number of supermarkets and shops on Friday and the bags were still free..

Unless of course members know of other shops that are now charging..

[Dominic]

They will all have to by July I think. Sooner they do, the better. We were amazed at how successful the scheme was in the UK.

[exodus]

Thank you Flossie. We know where NOT to shop (until 1st July).
Amos.

[Fisherman Phil]

I believe that as from 1st January it is voluntary for shops to charge for bags, but as from 1st July it will be compulsory to charge for bags..

[Dominic]

Thank you Flossie. We know where NOT to shop (until 1st July).
Amos.

It's a bit of a trek from Zygi anyway.

[LouiseCastricum]

I never have a problem at Alfa Mega. I give the lady/boy/girl who helps with the packing my shopping bag.

[Dominic]

There was a lot of resistance in the UK too, but people surprisingly soon adapted, and it turned out to be very popular.

If the supermarkets paid for the bags themselves it would be daft because:

A. It would just put the price up for everybody.
B. It wouldn't cut down on plastic bag usage.

[RattyPatty]

In theory it is a good idea but I wonder how much plastic waste is actually being saved. I always recycle surplus bags by using them as binliners. Now, when I am back in the UK, I have to buy plastic bags to put in my kitchen bin and will soon have to do the same in Cyprus.

Don't get me wrong, I know plastic is a huge problem but it's not just as easy as cutting down on carrier bags.

[PW in Polemi]

I have a large carrier bag stuffed full of old strong carrier and other plastic bags in the boot of my car. When I go into a supermarket, I hang the bag of bags on the trolley, then present it to the checkout girl first, before the groceries. That way, anybody who wants to help me load up, can use my bags without using any supermarket ones. I even have some old wine bottle carriers we brought over in our container (from the Co-Op Supermarket), that are very useful not just for wine but for tins (cat food etc), cartons of juice and other oddments.

Even doing this, I still manage to acquire loads of carrier bags, both full size and the smaller fruit'n'veg size ones. These all get re-used, as RattyPatty said, as binliners amongst other things.

[smudger]

I've used recyclable bags both here and in UK for a few years now, problem is getting packing staff to use my recyclable bags before I can get through the checkout!! Like Flossie, if they do, I unpack them and put stuff in my recyclable bags and leave the plaggie bags there!
I'm a big fan of ridding the world of plastic, especially when you see the damage it does to sea life, which in turn affects us all in the food chain.

How difficult is it??

I find the paper bags used by Primark in UK frustrating sometimes, (with a 12 year old in tow it's a huge draw I'm afraid!!) but persevere as I respect the ethos and struggle home, well back to the hotel, and then use them to recycle waste and rubbish when we leave.

The plastic age has to end one way or another, and anything we as individuals can do to achieve that end has to be positive.

[Jimgward]

There was a lot of resistance in the UK too, but people surprisingly soon adapted, and it turned out to be very popular.

If the supermarkets paid for the bags themselves it would be daft because:

A. It would just put the price up for everybody.
B. It wouldn't cut down on plastic bag usage.

Like many new schemes, it started in Scotland, to wholesale approval, as did the smoking bans and even now, the much lower alcohol limit for driving. When introduced in England, it did cause a furore, that we found highly amusing in Scotland.

[Jimgward]

Plastic straws also need to be banned. They take 500 years to break down.

Having seen sea lochs in scotland with terrible piles of plastic washed in on storms, I can only endorse any efforts to get rid of and recycle plastic. Our council has a separate wheelie bin for plastic, glass and metals (i.e. packaging minus cardboard) and it was introduced just over a year ago. I am amazed by how much packaging we go through.

Supermarkets don't help. Tescos being guilty of charging more for loose fruit and vegetables than the same product pre-packaged in polystyrene, cellophane and the like.

[PolemIan]

I wish they'd ban glitter. I enjoy receiving a Christmas card as much anybody, but the ones covered in glitter drive me crazy. It gets everywhere - for months!

See how easy it for me to distract myself from greek class revision.....

[Dominic]

How is you Greek coming along?

[Varky]

The solution is to get governments to get the present manufacturers of plastic bags to change to fully recyclable material not to charge shoppers for using present day plastic bags. This applies not only to plastic bags but to all 'disposable' plastics.

[Dominic]

Wouldn't an easier solution be to just invest in a few Bags for Life?

[Varky]

Wouldn't an easier solution be to just invest in a few Bags for Life?

On the face of it, yes. But this would not take into account those plastic bags that are produced for use as bin liners and for which purpose many of the plastic shopping bags handed out today are used.

[Kili01]

Good point Lincoln! Even in the UK there is no charge for the small bags for fruit and veggies. But if supermarkets stopped selling pre packaged fruit and veg specially wrapped that would help. Also if manufactures of all kinds of domestic hardware like vacuum cleaners, kitchen items for example, minimised the amount of packing materials they use to what is really necessary, that would cut down on the amount of recycling needed. I agree that Introducing a small deposit on plastc and glass containers might also help... After all this deposit is already the norm for the very large water bottles (19 ltrs).

Dee

[Alfie]

They did nice pies there!