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It’s not long to go now before we will start getting charged for every one of those plastic carrier bags that we pick up when we go shopping here in Wales, so what does this mean and which bags will we be charged for?
The 5 pence price tag is for single use carrier bags, you know the ones that are given to you for free when you go shopping, but this isn’t just for the plastic carrier bags, this also goes for the paper bags as well, so this may make people take their own bags when it comes to shopping for food!
Hang On What About Take Away Food Carrier Bags Etc.
Well it seems that will have to pay for those as well, so now when you pop in to your local McDonalds or KFC you will have to pay 5p for the paper bag that your food is placed in to! Bizarre isn’t it!
This also means that if you buy something like bird seed for your pet budgie, you’ll also pay 5p for the bag the seed is in, so long story short, every disposable carrier bag you have will cost you 5p, a good time to remember to take your own when you go for that big food shop at the end of the week.
Raising Money By Charging 5p Per Bag
It has been mentioned that by having this charge in place for your “single-use” carrier bags will raise £2.6m, which in turn the shops and restaurants etc must give to Welsh charities (yeah I can see that happening), but if they are caught giving bags away for free then they will be fined up to £5,000!
Stock Up On Your Bags!
The 5p charge per bag goes in to force on the 1st October, so my advice is when you next go shopping, grab some extra bags and get them for free, also if you are going to start using those “Bag for Life” bags then get them now, most shops are giving them away for free or selling them at half the normal price.
I would rather pay 9p for a bag for life than 5p per bag every time I want few bags and with the big, stronger, bags you can usually pack the equivalent 3 – 4 bags in one.
So Remember The 1st October!
Put it in your diary and remember to take carrier bags with you when you go shopping or if you go to McDonalds, KFC or even Burger King, remember that they are going to charge you for the carrier bags.
Yes I know it’s only 5p, but it all soon mounts up 
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Twitter: conceivegirl
I applaud this move. Maybe its time for a step further: a complete ban on PVC! I always carry a folded cotton bag in my purse. It doesn’t occupy a lot of space and it’s not heavy, plus I’m doing a little for the environment.
Twitter: BlazingMinds
Hi Anita, that’s a great idea
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Twitter: limey59music
Had this for a few years now over here in Canada. No bodies knows where the money goes, but they keep taking it. So HEAVY reusable bags are the NORM for us.
Happy shopping!
Twitter: BlazingMinds
Hi David, thanks for stopping by
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I think charging for plastic bags will definitely help reduce the waste of plastic. More stores need to adopt this policy. I have noticed that most stores are selling permanent bags to help you make the switch. I have many cloth bags I got for free when I signed up for some environmental organizations.
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Totally agree with you Joe,
the only way to stop plastic bags is to charge. these things are the major points which are increasing global warming
Twitter: chattanoogaseo
Wow! Here in rural (sorta rural) Georgia where I live, I take my own trash every week (or there about) to what is called a transfer station. I expect that one day they will start charging me by the bag. There is a Aldi’s that do half of my shopping at where I typically use reusable bags. The other grocery stores give out those little plastic bags and I try to recycle them as best as possible. I’m thinking of you my dear friend, Earth. And I’m always doing a better job at lowering my carbon footprint. I’ve just started recycling aluminum.
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Twitter: eexploria
This is a smarter move to bring up environmental protection.It is really high time to stop the use of plastic and stick onto the natural fiber products for packaging and related uses. useful info! Thank you
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I stops using these plastic bags because of pollution. these bags are non digestible item for soil and they are the main cause of pollution. i think everyone should left using these bags for safe and healthy life we can save a lot of money also by avoiding these plastic bags.
Twitter: BlazingMinds
Nicely put Reeha, if only the plastic bags could all be bio-degradable and dissolve in landfills in a matter of hours, rather then years, maybe that would also help the situation
Twitter: finallyfast
Wow. Plastic bags and the general wastefulness of humans everywhere is a serious problem, and I wish the United States government were progressive enough to instate something like this plastic bag law/fine. Of course, it needs to go far beyond that, but that’s one small step in the right direction.
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Twitter: BlazingMinds
I am ashamed to say that the human race is a use an d throw away species!
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Twitter: john_metcalf
This is a great idea but…
What happens if I shop online and the supermarket delivers my shopping? I can’t reuse bags I already own. Will I get charged? Also, what about all the small plastic bags when I buy loose veg?
Excess packaging also needs to be tackled. Some products have a box, polyprop trays, individual foil trays and tons of LDPE wrapping
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Twitter: BlazingMinds
I’ve wondered about that myself John, may be the supermarket, ust takes for granted you will need bags and decides to send them and charge you for them anyway. Hmmmm, must look in to that one
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I always bring my own bags when I know I’m going shopping. I think it’s a great move to charge for the bags. I am sure it will get some people to bring their own bag as well. So it will be succesful anyway, even if it are just a few people, it’s a step forward.
But the mcdonalds and kfc charging for their paper bags is just ridiculous! Like those costs are not already in their price. I don’t want warm food in my bags, at least not with a protective layer between it…something like a paper bag.
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Btw. (I couldn’t edit my post) I am in China now, and China is seen as one of the biggest, if not the biggest poluter in the world, and the west likes to point to China saying they don’t do enough about it. But that is actually not true.
The plastic bags in the supermarkets all cost money, except for the privately owned supermarkets, they can decide for themselves.
Also they work hard on seperating garbage and recycling. And the government has put a lot of money to make the Public transportation as convenient as possible so people leave their car at home. Taxi’s charge extra money for gas. And their are many many more things. “We” the west can learn from them.
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I noticed in my local Co-op shop in the UK that their bags are bio grade able bags. I had stored some things in my loft in some of their bags and when I went up there some months later I found the bags were disintegrating they looked as if a mouse had been eating them but there is no mice in my loft and if there was I am sure they don’t eat plastic. I wonder why the bigger supermarkets such as Adsa or in the USA Wal-Mart don’t have bio grade able bags. At least it would be a step in the right direction in preventing pollution.
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Twitter: BlazingMinds
Maybe the big supermarkets aren’t really bothered about the environment! Personally I think the bio-degradable bags would be a brilliant idea, specially when most of us use the bags for the bins in our kitchens
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Yes I also use the bags for my kitchen rubbish and if the bag are bio-degradable I don’t need to feel guilty because I know they won’t stay in the environment for many many years.
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