Supermarket Bags

[PeterArnel]

Supermarkets in UK are now giving you points if you dont use disposable bags - u can pack the goods in what u like
Peter

[ElyseC]

There are stores here that do something similar. Some will give you a few cents off your total for each bag you bring back and reuse. Others have a recycling container just for those plastic bags and/or offer canvas totes you can buy to use and reuse.

[iamback]

u can pack the goods in what u likeYou couldn't before?? I mean - is this really news? Seems like the UK is waaaay behind then.

Bags in the supermarket (and many other stores) here cost money (and have for a long time now: they're not allowed to give them away!) except the very small, very flimsy ones. The bags you can buy are sturdy, or very sturdy (the latter meant to last); even the sturdy ones (EUR 0.35 or thereabouts) last many times.

But I always use a real shopping bag, either one with a shoulder strap or a large one on wheels.

In the US I noticed several stores where you also could buy a nice cotton bag, and if you used that you got a small discount (offset the price of the brown paper bags that otherwise would be used). I've kept a few as souvenirs and occasionally use them.

[BobRoosth]

Here in Los Angeles one chain of stores rebate a nickel for every bag one brings in to use -- cloth, paper or plastic. Another holds a raffle once or twice each month for a $25 gift certificate. Every time one bings in a cloth bag, one fills out a raffle ticket.

I keep several cloth bags in my car all the time. I am actually ready to replace a couple of them, but have yet to see new ones as large and well made.

[Mike]

Supermarkets in UK are now giving you points if you dont use disposable bags - u can pack the goods in what u like
Peter

Those of us with dogs need the bags!

[Richard Waller]

Those of us with dogs need the bags! - but with nappy-bags costing about 1 penny UK each using carrier bags seems over-engineered. Though a lot of people do use them.

I am wondering whether if I collect all the carrier bags blowing down the sea-front I could get discount from someplace. In fact we use sturdy plastic boxes from Sainsburys which are much easier to handle. And are useful for putting things in for picnics and visits.

[dthomsen8]

Those of us with dogs need the bags!

Oh, but I want to ask what you do with the bag, once the dog has done its business and you have a bag of doggie do.

I have neighbors who leave those bags on my sidewalk. No thanks!

[Richard Waller]

leave those bags on my sidewalk. No thanks!
You will know of course, that the idea is to pick up the dog waste and put it in a bin. But you are right, some owners think their job is done once they have picked it up. Or they mark the site with stones, so some idiot has to pick up the mucky stones and dispose of them too

[ElyseC]

Here in Los Angeles one chain of stores rebate a nickel for every bag one brings in to use -- cloth, paper or plastic. Another holds a raffle once or twice each month for a $25 gift certificate. Every time one bings in a cloth bag, one fills out a raffle ticket.

I keep several cloth bags in my car all the time. I am actually ready to replace a couple of them, but have yet to see new ones as large and well made.Trader Joe's still sell theirs, don't they? Somewhere around here I have one. It may be stained looking no matter how I wash it, but structurally it's as sound as the day (years ago) I bought it. Now, if we only had a Trader Joe's store to use it in without having to drive 3.5 hours away...

[Michael Rowley]

Dave:

I want to ask what you do with the bag

Sell the filled bags to your local tannery!

[terrie]

richard: You will know of course, that the idea is to pick up the dog waste and put it in a bin.My condo complex has this cool thing with a small bag dispenser along with a trash bin...it's all on one post and they have 5-6 of them scattered around the complex...don't know who empties the trash bins but someone does--they should be paid a lot to do that...'-}}

Terrie

[marlene]

They have those bag dispensers at most dog parks, too.

...don't know who empties the trash bins but someone does--they should be paid a lot to do that...

Probably isn't much worse than emptying a trash bin full of used diapers!

mxh

[Mike]

My condo complex has this cool thing with a small bag dispenser along with a trash bin.

We used to live near Tunbridge Wells and they supplied bags in their parks. Sometimes we'd take a trip just to collect some bags.

It always struck me that it was a lost opportunity as the bags could have made them a profit by selling the advertising space they provided. They'd be a pretty good targeted marketing tool for dogfood manufacturers and the like.

[Mike]

- but with nappy-bags costing about 1 penny UK each using carrier bags seems over-engineered. Though a lot of people do use them.

I am wondering whether if I collect all the carrier bags blowing down the sea-front I could get discount from someplace.

The trouble with nappy bags is that they make your pockets smell as they all seem to be scented with rather ghastly perfumes.

Tesco did offer 1p for each reused bag at one time but the experiment didn't seem to last long.

[Mike]

I have neighbors who leave those bags on my sidewalk. No thanks!

Better than putting them in a letter box :D

If you know who they are maybe you could collect them up and stack them all outside their front door -- or better still, pay one of the neighbourhood kids to do it. ;)

[Richard Waller]

We had a lady who put food out for the foxes every morning out on the Greensward. A neighbour got so fed up with it so near to her house, and not liking foxes very much either, collected all the food and took it back to the perpetrator and told her to put it in her own garden.

[Michael Rowley]

Marlene:

Probably isn't much worse than emptying a trash bin full of used diapers!

Since 'dustbins' don't often contain ashes any more, the more enlightened parts of Europe have gone over to closed plastic bins that are automatically emptied into closed vehicles. Don't you have these systems in America?

[Richard Waller]

Closed plastic bins - or wheely bins are being issued free by many councils in the UK. Michael, you must have read how the Government is getting very neurotic about recycling, and some councils have fitted, without telling anyone, electronic transponders on the lip of each bin, identified with the address of the house. When the bin is emptied into the truck, the information is read and the weight logged so that they can come round to any house that has too much rubbish and fine them for not recycling more of it. Big Brother is watching.

We did know that the badies have been getting to sift through our rubbish and capturing our identity details from the stuff you throw away, and then raiding our overdraft at the bank or credit card. Now every house seems to have a shredder, and what on earth shall we do with the shreddings which if put out with the waste paper blows all the way down the street.

[Michael Rowley]

Richard:

some councils have fitted, without telling anyone, electronic transponders on the lip of each bin, identified with the address of the house

Yes, I read that, but I read too that the transponders have been fitted experimentally by only a few (named) councils; but a transponder is no use unless you have a weighing system fitted to the collecting vehicle, and that hasn't been reported yet. There is also the difficulty that the bin men are not very careful about bringing the bins back to the right house.

We had those bins (in assorted colours) 25 years ago in my rural area of Germany; made by the same German company too. It must have made a packet by now.

[Richard Waller]

The transponders seem to have been fitted to the refuse wheely bins. I would have thought that a transponder on the recycling bins would have been more useful, with a personal call on those that do not put anything out.

There was a rumour that we could be charged for refuse collection over a specified small quantity. In addition to what we already pay in council tax. This is a major threat, and will result straight away with people fly-tipping in any convenient open space. We already get that here with redundant beds, sofas, and the like.

[dthomsen8]

The transponders seem to have been fitted to the refuse wheely bins. I would have thought that a transponder on the recycling bins would have been more useful, with a personal call on those that do not put anything out.

In Philadelphia, one neighborhood has a pilot project where there are recycling bins with transponders measuring how much is recycled, with valuable coupons and other rewards for those who recycle a lot. Philadelphia neighborhoods vary considerably in the recycling statistics. Failure to recyle is in theory subject to fines, but they are rarely enforced.

[terrie]

marlene: Probably isn't much worse than emptying a trash bin full of used diapers!Ugh...'-}}

Terrie

[terrie]

mike: Sometimes we'd take a trip just to collect some bags.LOL!!!

Terrie

[Michael Rowley]

Richard:

There was a rumour that we could be charged for refuse collection over a specified small quantity

Anything's possible in Sussex!

[Steve Rindsberg]

"The trouble with nappy bags is ..."

Yes, but think of the fun you can have with pickpockets!

[iamback]

Since 'dustbins' don't often contain ashes any more, the more enlightened parts of Europe have gone over to closed plastic bins that are automatically emptied into closed vehicles. Don't you have these systems in America?The even more enlightened parts of Europe now have underground containers, separate ones for glass, paper, sometimes for organic waste, and for "the rest". No bins or containers standing around all over the place anymore, but just the bit you need to use to put your stuff in it sticking out above ground. And a thingy on top for the special truck to grab to pull up the container and empty it into its behind. There are even containers now that themselves phone the collecting people when they need emptying.

[Michael Rowley]

Marjolein:

The even more enlightened parts of Europe now have underground containers

Splendid! But I suppose now if you buy or rent a place in the Netherlands, the thing to look out for is, 'Nearest communal dustbin 0.8 km'. I'd rather have my individual wheeled bins outside the back door (to date we've three: a black one, a blue one, and a brown one).

[ElyseC]

I'd rather have my individual wheeled bins outside the back door (to date we've three: a black one, a blue one, and a brown one).In our former home out in southern California we had three wheely bins: light blue for recycled (co-mingled, no need to separate metal, plastic, paper, glass), green for yard waste (grass clippings, leaves, twigs and branches cut to size) and black for the rest. No one said so, but I suspect the blue recycling was co-mingled, because they figured they better make it as easy as possible for residents to recycle or they simply wouldn't bother.

Now, out here in rural Iowa, we could contract with the local trash haulers, but we don't. We fill up large, heavy-duty construction trash bags and my husband hauls them every so often to the free trash dump available only for rural residents. Costs a lot less than paying the trash haulers and there's no last minute dash to haul out the wheely bin if you forget until hear the trash truck coming.

[BobRoosth]

in southern California we had three wheely bins: light blue for recycled (co-mingled, no need to separate metal, plastic, paper, glass), green for yard waste (grass clippings, leaves, twigs and branches cut to size) and black for the rest. No one said so, but I suspect the blue recycling was co-mingled, because they figured they better make it as easy as possible for residents to recycle or they simply wouldn't bother.
It's still that way here. And the blue bin is 50% larger than the other two. The waste is co-mingled for two reasons: people are more willing to do it and three or four smaller bins would not work well with the mechanical pickups.

They take the co-mingled mess to a facility that separates out what it can by machine (magnets, blowers, etc) then uses people and a conveyor belt to sort the rest. I suspect even with supposedly fully separated waste streams, the human sort would still be needed. Homeowners are not great about correct sorting.

[Richard Waller]

I was out in Saudi Arabia, about 30 years ago I guess, and what you did was to cart your rubbish out into the desert and dump it there. They had a contractor to come and pick it all up when it got too bad.

And just drop your litter in the street. If it was in a bag then the goat-women used to pick the bags open with a sharp stick.

But I guess it has all changed now.

[dthomsen8]

It always struck me that it was a lost opportunity as the bags could have made them a profit by selling the advertising space they provided. They'd be a pretty good targeted marketing tool for dogfood manufacturers and the like.

We have a "Dog Park" in my neighborhood, quotes because the term is politically incorrect, but you have a wonderful idea about advertising on the bags they give out. No, I don't have a dog, but I am a community activist.

[ElyseC]

It's still that way here. And the blue bin is 50% larger than the other two. The waste is co-mingled for two reasons: people are more willing to do it and three or four smaller bins would not work well with the mechanical pickups.This was in Claremont, on the eastern edge of LA County and my own personal hunch is that the rich and famous living there probably wouldn't bother recycling anything if it wasn't made as convenient as possible. As long as it didn't impinge on their lifestyle they'd do it and the city would be in compliance with recycling laws.

They take the co-mingled mess to a facility that separates out what it can by machine (magnets, blowers, etc) then uses people and a conveyor belt to sort the rest. I suspect even with supposedly fully separated waste streams, the human sort would still be needed. Homeowners are not great about correct sorting.Yes, I once saw a picture in the Claremont newspaper of the facility and people doing the hand sorting. Amazingly, when Claremont's co-mingled recycling began, they said residents did not need to rinse out cans and jars before putting them into the bin. I wondered about that and was not surprised that a short time later residents got a letter saying we must rinse before recycling. Guess the smell and bugs finally got to them!

Oh yes, in Claremont the black trash is the smallest of the three bins and the blue and green ones are the same size.

[Michael Rowley]

Elyse:


wheely bins: light blue for recycled (co-mingled, no need to separate metal, plastic, paper, glass), green for yard waste (grass clippings, leaves, twigs and branches cut to size) and black for the rest


With the exception of glass, the system in S. California appears to be the same as in the Borough of Ipswich; the only differences are the choice of colour for the garden waste and the exclusion of glass bottles from the blue bin in Ipswich. Bottles have either to be taken to the bottle bank, where clear gless has to be kept separated from the coloured, or thrown into the black bin.

I don't think any country has a uniform system of dealing with waste. Here, some local authorities go for coloured wheeled bins, whereas others are content with plastic bags (which cats and rats appreciate—in the USA, you've got a more extensive range of marauding fauna); some even stick to the old galvanized iron dustbins.

[Richard Waller]

Here in Goring we have a realy neat eway of dealing with garden waste. Brown bags cost 50 pence uk and are themselves biodegradable. But only some people actually use them, prefering to take the stuff down to the tip where they segregate the stuff. It goes through a shredder and then is piled in great heaps to compost, and then is sold back to me, or used as agricultural improver. It smells a bit, and the neighbours complain. And yes I do have a compost heap in the garden but it seems to take a long time to be usable.

[Mike]

wonderful idea about advertising on the bags they give out. No, I don't have a dog, but I am a community activist.

Let me know if you manage to get the idea adopted. If it proves cost-effective maybe more town councils will adopt the idea and provide free bags.

[iamback]

Marjolein:

Splendid! But I suppose now if you buy or rent a place in the Netherlands, the thing to look out for is, 'Nearest communal dustbin 0.8 km'.Oh, no - they're much closer than that mine are maybe 30 and 50 meters away, so if the closest ones are full it's no trouble to walk back to the others.

And, of course, many people in our dense cities don't have "back doors" (unless you count the door onto a tiny balcony) so you'd hardly put three containers there!

[ktinkel]

Let me know if you manage to get the idea adopted. If it proves cost-effective maybe more town councils will adopt the idea and provide free bags.And imagine all the work for designers, coming up with amusing illustrations for pooper-scooper bags!

[Michael Rowley]

Oh, no - they're much closer than that mine are maybe 30 and 50 meters away, so if the closest ones are full it's no trouble to walk back to the others.

And, of course, many people in our dense cities don't have "back doors" (unless you count the door onto a tiny balcony) so you'd hardly put three containers there!
Marjolein:

I think you're trying to convince people that everyone in the Netherlands lives in large blocks of flats in enormous cities (though even Amsterdam has a lot of houses, not all of them old); but unless everything there has changed in the last few years, a lot of the people live in houses (one family in each) in villages and small towns.