Plastic Bag Ban

Cotton On brands (including their other stores) have some fantastic budget options.

I personally go full granny style and have a trolley bag. It probably looks ridiculous but in order to whip myself OUT of being lazy when it matters, I have to let myself be lazy when it doesn’t matter. And this is one of those things, LOL.

I remember my bags but always seem to underestimate how many I’ll need so end up trying to stuff everything in and hoping it doesn’t spill out on the way to the car, hahaha

I must say, here in South Australia, we are looking on with bemusement at the media drama and reactions this is causing. Single-use plastic bags have been banned from major retailers here since 2009! I’m amazed that it has taken so long for all the states to come onboard.

Everytime when I request NOT to have a bag when I shop at chemist warehouse (and sometimes in book shops and department stores) I get bag checked, even though I am holding a receipt in my hands. Now if they would stop doing that there there would be more incentive for people to not request plastic bags.

For those of you who constantly forget to take your green bags when you go shopping: what do you do with them when you’ve unpacked the last lot of groceries you bought? If it’s too cold to go out & put them back in the car, can’t you leave them near the front door or near where you put your keys?

Delegate! If you’ve got kids – either give one of them the responsibility of putting the unpacked green bags back in the car OR give one of them the responsibility of FETCHING the bags every time you go shopping.

I read this interesting article yesterday in our Western Australia Weekend newspaper
Not saying anything but does make for interesting reading.

The point of charging for the plastic bag is so people place value on the bag and are less likely to pollute. How often do you see the Aldi 15 cent bags in our environment compared to the previously free thin plastic bags? Its the “stick” approach.

Conversly we have the new recycling scheme in NSW where you are given a refund i.e.
“carrot” for returning recyclable beverage containers.

All of my bags from my grocery shop are used as bin liners, even the ones with holes in them. I use those for my baby’s nappies.

So now I have to still have bin liners but have to buy them and they still end up as waste.

I wish they introduced benches like Aldi to sort groceries. I generally bring my own bags but if I’m caught out I don’t mind forking out for the bags. I went to the self service checkout at Coles and it was just mayhem. The bags were at the front of store and there weren’t any at the self service checkout so if you were caught out without a bag then it delayed the queue. If you had your own bag the self service checkout scale was sensitive saying you had to take out last item as it wasn’t scanned. This was during a weekday! At Aldi you can just put everything in trolley and sort out. I guess you could still do this and sort before placing in your car. I like at Aldi how you can pick up empty boxes. I’m having anxiety thinking what it would be like at Coles/Woolworths during peak days/weekends!! Hopefully the transition becomes smoother over time!!

The issue I have with Woolworths (I’m not sure what Coles does) is not that I have to pay an extra $1 for bags for pick up, it’s that I don’t want reusable bags every time, which is weekly. I would much prefer the option to have my groceries placed in the trolley loose, I’m happy to pack the groceries into my own bags like I do at Aldi. To me, this seems more like revenue raising than protecting the environment.

I understand that I could just do my own shop, I’m ok with getting a few items, but anxiety becomes an issue when I do a full shop and the pick up option has been fantastic for me.