The other day I went into the Walgreen's in my parents neighborhood and was shocked to find they were charging 10 cents for a brown paper bag to put my bought items in. After the cashier rang up my items she left them on the counter. I saw a stack of brown bags by the register and asked her if I could put my items in one. She said it's 10 cents for a bag. I thought, "What? 10 cents? Why? Why isn't it just included in the price of the goods? Why is it separate?" She said it was some kind of new rule. I didn't really feel like digging 10 cents out of my wallet and wasn't going to use my debit card for such a small amount, so I just walked out with the items in my hand. I later found out this is a new anti-waste law in California, but it is the most bizarre rule. Why not just offer a disposable bag for the 10 cents instead of a brown paper bag that will still contribute to waste? Is this happening in your area?
It's not happening here in my country, or at least not yet, thankfully, although the government here and the stores have pulled some similar stunts in the past and thankfully none of them stuck for too long. That sounds like so much of an inconvenience in my opinion and if the government won't change that law or find a better way to get the same goal done then the grocery store itself should find a better solution.
You bet. The grocery stores here uses that brown paper bag that is for free but if you want the plastic bag that is sturdy, you have to shell out 2 pesos, that's 10 cents. The problem with those plastic bags is they are banned according to city ordinances so they cannot be used unless you pay for it. The law is trying to discourage the use of such bags for ecological purposes, that they clog the waterways.
Many places are introducing charges for bags, so you should always carry a spare one in your bag just in case. These days there is no excuse because there are so many reusable bags available. The reason why they charge for paper is that you can use it for recycling and some places insist you put all recyclable papers in a brown bag. I know my old landlady used to get me to always ask for paper bags so she could put all her recycling in them.
Nope - not something that is happening where I live or likely to either - as when the new law banning plastic bags was introduced several years ago and the stores didn't even give the option of buying either paper or plastic bags - but were encouraging everyone to purchase reusable eco-bags for $1 or bring their own instead - I've now got back into the old fashioned habit of always bringing my own shopping bag with me whenever I go shopping - which is great as I now never caught out - as I generally always have a spare either in my bag or the car - as most fold up real small.
We got new laws too locally in Hawaii. Our Legislature banned plastic bags. The sad thing is that the stores were already using biodegradable bags and recycled bags. When they banned plastic bags we had to bring our own bags to put our purchases in. A membership store called Marukai Wholesale Mart charges 10 cents too. Our Walgreens puts things is brown paper bags too, but they don't charge. Walgreens & CVS prefers you bring your own bags for purchases. It's so difficult now days for we put our trash in plastics so what's the big deal with stores having to give us purchases in biodegradable bags?
Most stores in my hometown also charge ten cents for a plastic bag. Not that the extra charge has made people to carry their own bags [when they go shopping]. They don't care but I suppose if they knew they were doing it for the environment, they would do it [use reusable, biodegradable shopping bags].
This is a law passed in major cities in our town. You have to pay for their plastic bags or you can use your own reusable bags. They only give paper bags for free but when you shop for frozen goods and heavy items, the paper cannot really hold them. So it's better to just bring your own reusable bag. My husband always complains about the fee though lol. He said that if they want people to stop using plastic bags, then just remove it completely, why have a fee for it? He is right though, in a way.
@Corzhens. That is in SM Supermarket right? I have always put up with using their brown paper bags, so if it's that cheap then I will pay for 1 to 2 bags when I shop. I hope they are large in size, the largest size so that I can place more things in it.
They charge us if you want a PLASTIC bag, but definitely not a paper bag. That's supposedly free. We're being encouraged to use paper bags more to make it more nature friendly or something.
You are right, we shop at SM supermarket and in fact, just tonight we were there after work to shop for some groceries. But now they have no more plastic bags. What they sell are the eco-bags which is made of cloth. It costs 35 pesos, a little less than a dollar. What's good about eco-bags is its durability. We keep those eco-bags in the car trunk so in case we make an unplanned tript to the supermarket, we are ready with the eco-bags.
The store charges for the plastic bag and the brown bag is free. If you provide your own bag you are suppose to get a .05 off but I am not sure they are really doing that. I do provide my own bags.
I thought paper bags were an American thing. In Botswana and the UK we either use plastic bags or those cloth bags. In fact, in the UK we had a lot of those in different sizes and very seldom got plastic carriers. We do the same here in Botswana, but we do have to pay for plastic carriers. I think it's a good idea because it forces you to be conscious of waste. We also recycle our plastic carriers.
@Corzhens, Are their eco bags sturdy? Have you tried buying one? Too bad they stopped selling those plastic bags, I think they are the perfect bags if you were to buy large softdrinks.
Yes, their eco bags are durable. In fact, the first eco bag that we bought some 2 years ago is still serviceable until now. And it is also convenient because you can fold it to a small piece that maybe 3 eco bags can fit in my pocket when folded. Last night we had brought 4 eco bags in the supermarket. And you know what? That 4 eco bags had earned me 4 points in my rewards card. Gee, that's about 10 cents.
@Corzhens, If that's the case then I will try buying their eco bags then. So you have an SM Advantage Card? We stopped renewing ours many years ago because we get so little points for grocery items.
Yes, I have the SM Advantage card that you can renew for 100 pesos. You may not believe but I get more than 10,000 pesos in points and I redeem the points by paying my groceries with it. My husband's SM Advantage card is mostly used for gas purchases and he gets more than 1,000 pesos in points. Truly SM has their own ways to attract customers because they also think of how to make customers happy.
@Corzhens, How much is 1 advantage point converted to pesos nowadays? I remember we had that around 2004 but my dad did not bother to renew his card. Do you have to exchange the points before the year or your registration due date is over? Maybe that's why my dad thought it wasn't worth it because he doesn't get a lot of points if you only have a year to accumulate them before your points get reset to zero.
In my area this is happening, but only for plastic bags. Its an attempt to cut down the amount of them that end up in the landfill. There has been a big push for people to bring their own reusable bags for bringing their groceries home. Did you know that some places, like Rwanda have banned the plastic bag completely? I have heard if the President is walking down the street he would confiscate your bag and make you carry your items home in multiple trips if you have to.
1 SM Advantage point is equal to 1 peso. You can spend it in any SM affiliates although I normally spend it in paying my supermarket purchases. If you have a bank account with BDO, a certain premium is added to your SM Advantage card. It si like having a passive income because it's no joke to get a free grocery worth thousands courtesy of the SM Advantage points.
