Plastic Carrier Bags
My dislike of shopping is probably only equalled by my dislike of plastic bags. They cut into your hands, break open spilling their contents over the pavement and then they either fill your bin or add to the massive collection you already have. No matter how many imaginative ways I found for plastic bags I always had a cupboardful.
In 1999, I started using reuseable bags, big rectangular ones with wooden handles. They are heavy when over filled and not easy to carry, but if you need to go to a supermarket they fit into the trolley and the car boot as well. They also serve as bags for going on holiday and storage bags. However, they are not perfect. Bottles roll around in them, I couldn't carry a full one round the local shops, so I have gradually acquired a few of other cloth shoulder bags which are easy to stick in a pocket or handbag and so are always there. There is a discipline to remembering to put them back into the car or my handbag once emptied, but I am working on that. After 10 years of working at it in 2010 I came to a day when I had no plastic carrier bags, it didn't last long as people bring plastic bags to the house with things in them, or presents but that's OK. They then get filled with other items to go to our local charity shop.
With little plastic bags my success is variable. Those with no holes in go to be poo bags for the dogs, those with holes in I have little purpose for. However, I now have four net bags that I can use for buying loose items such as fruit or veg - my main source of this type of bag. These bags can be washedif they get dirty. They come in two sizes from Onya - www.onyabags.co.uk.
In 1999 saying "Thank you I have my own bags I don't need a plastic bag" raised eyebrows, by 2009 that had all changed. My little net bags did raise questions in 2009 but by 2015 a more usual comment was "do we sell these?". Gradually the message spreads. The carrier bag charge coming in in October 2014 confirmed reusing bags as the norm, though my daughter would still pay for the pleasure of a bag!
In 1999, I started using reuseable bags, big rectangular ones with wooden handles. They are heavy when over filled and not easy to carry, but if you need to go to a supermarket they fit into the trolley and the car boot as well. They also serve as bags for going on holiday and storage bags. However, they are not perfect. Bottles roll around in them, I couldn't carry a full one round the local shops, so I have gradually acquired a few of other cloth shoulder bags which are easy to stick in a pocket or handbag and so are always there. There is a discipline to remembering to put them back into the car or my handbag once emptied, but I am working on that. After 10 years of working at it in 2010 I came to a day when I had no plastic carrier bags, it didn't last long as people bring plastic bags to the house with things in them, or presents but that's OK. They then get filled with other items to go to our local charity shop.
With little plastic bags my success is variable. Those with no holes in go to be poo bags for the dogs, those with holes in I have little purpose for. However, I now have four net bags that I can use for buying loose items such as fruit or veg - my main source of this type of bag. These bags can be washedif they get dirty. They come in two sizes from Onya - www.onyabags.co.uk.
In 1999 saying "Thank you I have my own bags I don't need a plastic bag" raised eyebrows, by 2009 that had all changed. My little net bags did raise questions in 2009 but by 2015 a more usual comment was "do we sell these?". Gradually the message spreads. The carrier bag charge coming in in October 2014 confirmed reusing bags as the norm, though my daughter would still pay for the pleasure of a bag!
