Carry Bag Debate

I don't think the charge is high enough to deter people from getting them. You still see plastic bags discarded everywhere, if they were more expensive people wouldn't be as wasteful. Paper bags are great if it's dry and you only carry light stuff. My car boot and handbags all have reusable bags in and have been since way before the charge came in as I knew they were strong enough for what I carried

Don't get me started on carrier bags I argued with morrisons because they put price up to 30p but its paper and van be recycled I bet them at my own hame now and carry a roll of them in my bag

I've got into the habit now of having a shopper bag with me so I don't have to pay the fees. I don't mind the paper ones but some still charge for them like Morrison's

There's nothing new about free paper carrier bags they were quite common before plastic bags came along, I have noticed that Primark have been using them for many years.

The "powers that be" have absolutely no objection to paper bags being given out "free". The objection to plastic bags was because of the environmental damage they create.

I have invested in bags for life and If I forget my bfl I will grab a couple of boxes in store to pack my shopping in..... however my other half has filled under my sink of carrier bags from all of his purchases. The charge is not high enough. We are still using too much plastic packaging on our products. My neighbours some how have an empty general waste bin every 2 weeks, iurs is overflowing. We can all do more

I always take my own bags when I visit the supermarket but I’m sure someone here will object when I sat this. I believe clothes shops should supply bags when you buy any item. I reuse any bags whether it’s through the post to line my bins.

I don't think plastic bags have ever been FREE - the price was indirectly added to the prices charged for goods. I remember that the stores who charged for plastic bags, before it became compulsory, always had lower prices.

I carry a tote as i hate parting with money for bags, especially if i have a load of them at home. I try to consume less

I always carry a folded carrier bag and/or use a backpack when I go shopping. There aren't many places near me, other than health food shops, that offer brown paper bags.

Hi my opinion about brown paper beg is it’s good for light weight shopping items but for your heavy shopping plastic bag is good and I also agree with other people about Morrison bag price . one more thing most stores worker check your reuse bags 🕳 I mean bag for life so many times . before they Handel you new one my vote is for plastic bag for life you can exchange to new one whenever you want . Thanks

I prefer plastic personally. I work for Boots, where we started doing paper bags about 6 months ago. For starters, gift sets we sold at Christmas were too heavy for the bags and they would rip as soon as you put it in. Secondly, Boots are charging for them - but the money all goes to Children in Need, but that doesn’t stop every customer complaining about being charged for a paper bag. They actually put the price up, it’s 7p for a medium bag, 5p for a tiny bag and 10p for a large bag. Thirdly, half of the bags are stuck together when they come in to us and they rip when you pull them apart. And finally, when it’s raining, which it does everyday here in Scotland, the bag will die. We actually get through the same number of bags as we used to when they were plastic.

I'm sorry to be a party pooper if I sound that way. I'm not an environmental activist or anything, simply a parent.

From all that I have read and seen in documentaries aswell as actually seeing the masses of plastic debris on beaches here in the UK and on holiday abroad, we HAVE to act now.

Sadly the plastic that is already in the system is a huge problem that needs significant work from the entire globe to make an attempt to collect it. But we cannot stand by and allow more plastic waste to be created, particularly in single use plastics such as shopping bags.

I have not been to th U.S. so I cannot comment on what they do, however they are a law unto themselves in many ways. I have seen , however that when I have been in France and some other European and Scandinavian countries that they do not have plastic bags at all. Intact They have been outlawed in many of these countries. This I think can only be a good thing.

I do however agree to some extent that paper bags I not necessarily the way to go, due to the tertiary strength and the implications of rainy day shopping disasters!! I personally use and have done for a number of years now, simple jute or unbleached cotton string bags ( like my Grannie used to use).

These are great and invaluable to be, although I have found to my cost that the string bags appear to take all that you put in them and keep doing so until you cannot lift them!!!

In short, if they are recyclable then ok, I not then refuse them. Let's try and do our little bit, as after all we are only here for a short time and it will be our kids and grandkids that need a healthier planet!

I have a fabric foldable bag i keep in my handbag, or if i go clothes shopping i go Primark first and get one of their paper bags. I have the reusable large shopper bags i keep in my boot. I think its great, the amount if people who buy a plastic bag each time is ridiculous

I just carry a couple of foldable bags in my handbag & have a load of reusable bags in car boot. Certainly dont mind being given a paper bag. I saw recently you can buy a compostable bag in Aldi for 5p.