Do you need a bag....?

by Jaded Green 15th March 2012, 11:58 am

I wasn't sure what to call thishtread and it may change its name. I was wondering about "the carrier bag challenge"

Last week i went shopping to our local mall. I took two cotton bags with me and managed to come home with everythnig stashed in these bags. I visited 3 departments in John Lewis and Boots. so that is 4 plastic bags I didn't use.

I thought it might be a bit of fun to see how many plastic carrier bags we save and keep a record here. i'll tot it up once a week or so

So, I will kick off with my saved carier bags totals since last Friday;

Friday 4
Saturday 2

we may not be a very big forum, but i'm sure we'll see the numbers stack up. and it all helps Very Happy

by freebird 15th March 2012, 1:44 pm

I always carry a rucksack with me if I am shopping. Leaves both hands free in case I have the dog with me. It's a great idea JG, though not sure I can be much use. I have been refusing carrier bags since the mid-1970s, or on the occasions when caught without bags, making sure I reused the carrier bags I had collected. I just don't think in terms of bags saved - everything goes into the rucksack or one of the small pack away bags that live in its pockets.

I'm probably going to sound a bit sad, but if there is a carrier bag blowing around in the supermarket carpark, I will pick it up and take it home - otherwise it will just end up in the bin or wrapped around a bush.

by Jaded Green 15th March 2012, 3:28 pm

I typed a reply to this earlier, but it doesn't seem to have posted!

Freebird - that's exactly it! Count your rucksack-full! We used a rucksack and large French market bag when we went to Sainsburys on Saturday. My 2 bags probably saved 3 plastic carrier bags, but it doesn't have to be exact. If you visited 3 shops and didn't take a bag in each shop, that's 3 bags for the tally.

We try and make sure that all the family always have a cotton bag with them, or at the least a 2nd hand plastic carrier.

by polgara 15th March 2012, 5:06 pm

I too use homemade bags & very rarely collect carrier bags. I may end up with a couple in a week. Even the OH has his own fold away shopping bag. I reckin I save something like 6-10 bags a week.

by Jaded Green 15th March 2012, 5:15 pm

it all mounts up!

by Jaded Green 16th March 2012, 6:26 pm

bought more wool and refused a bag today and LMJ bought slippers which went into her bag.

That's 2 more saved.

by Sparhawk 16th March 2012, 8:52 pm

freebird wrote:I always carry a rucksack with me if I am shopping...

I'm a rucksack person too...

Oh, I can say after a serious amount of trials & personal surveying, many many hours of my time & miles of legwork, purely to test the theory almost to destruction... whistle2

I can report that almost beyond any doubt, the people that are most pleased when you say no thanks to a carrier bag, the people in the charity shops, although just to make sure I may just have to continue the verification process for a while longer, bigthink

and then I'll have to carry out random spot checks, just to make sure attitudes dont change you understand...

Rolling Eyes

The sacrifices I have to make for science... Wink

by freebird 17th March 2012, 12:49 pm

Sparhawk wrote:
I can report that almost beyond any doubt, the people that are most pleased when you say no thanks to a carrier bag, the people in the charity shops,

Ah yes, that reminds me. If I do acquire carrier bags and they are not degradable (so I don't use them as bin liners) I save them up and give them to the local charity shops, who are always glad of them.

by freebird 19th March 2012, 11:03 am

This article seems timely..... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17027990

by Chilli-head 19th March 2012, 12:14 pm

Indeed, It does rather highlight that reuseable bags must be reused quite a bit (or an awful lot in the case of cotton) to be much better. This is one of the potential pitfalls of doing away with single use carriers - if people then forget to take their re-usable bag, and so have to buy another bag for life... eventually they end up throwing away surplus, much more environmentally damaging reuseable bags. Then there are the lazy who will simply treat the "bags for life" as single use carriers !

by polgara 19th March 2012, 3:32 pm

I have a bag that I made at least 15 years ago. It is quite large, is fully lined & I use it for the veggie shopping, onions etc go straight in. Must repair the handle, but everything else is fine. I also have a selection of fabric bags that I have made, sizes vary & the fabric is furnishing stuff. I think it will out last me!!
I also have the net type bags or see through curtain fabric in small sizes for things like toms, carrots & fruit.
I must have saved on so many plastic, but I wouldn`t like to make a guess how many in a week.

by Jaded Green 20th March 2012, 7:41 pm

Freebird - I was going to post that link too. It's a very interesting article isn't it?

When I started this thread, as well as my one entitled plastic bags, I was hoping that the discussion could go in the "Plastic bags" thread and this one would just be a bit of fun with people posting how many plastic bags they hadn't used. Instead the discussion seems to be running away in this thread!

Anway. I have saved one plastic carrier today in M&S foods in the new Kings Cross!

by Chilli-head 4th April 2012, 11:29 am

Just for JG; whilst tidying the workshop a few weekends ago, I came across some fabric "bags for life". Thinking on your posts, I thought to put them in the car, and - drum roll please - this morning I actually remembered to use them !

by Dandelion 7th July 2013, 1:47 pm

I saw an interesting idea on Etsy but am having trouble copying the link

by Dandelion 7th July 2013, 1:50 pm

http://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/155453313/the-plastic-free-shopping-kit-byo-bags?ref=shop_home_active

by freebird 7th July 2013, 3:34 pm

That looks really interesting, Dandelion. I can't see me being that organised, or having the time to shop around enough, but it may still generate some ideas. Our council has been providing compostable liners, made from potato starch, for our food waste bins. Having put them in the compost 2 years ago, I am still finding large lumps of green bag in the compost. I've stopped trying to compost them now, and when they have done duty in my compost bin they go in with the landfill waste - I take the view that at least they will degrade eventually.

by Dandelion 7th July 2013, 4:31 pm

A friend at school gave me a corn starch water bottle about three or four years ago so that I could see if it would break down. It hasn't! I had cut it into tiny strips, but they get sieved out of the compost on a regula basis. Someone told me that they compost down beautifully in municipal compost sites where the temperature reaches a decent level.

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