Plastic bag free hell

[Binky]

And for everyone's benefit, I live in Australia.

Yeah I've been waiting for this to happen. Funny I have quite a few of those green bags, problem is I NEVER remember to bring them with me when I go shopping.

[fireheart]

A lot of people forget to bring them. This is why I'm not looking forward to it.

[Aethian]

A tip to making sure I have them is after I unload the groceries they go back out to the car. Then it's just trying to remember them when I go into the store.

[Becks]

I really should get some of the "green" bags.

I have enough plastic bags here to take care of my garbage and soda can needs for at least a year.

[fireheart]

Ok, since people wanted updates, here goes:

I haven't been in yet this week, but I've heard some horror stories from coworkers and my siblings. (I have to go in today )

-Several of my coworkers have been abused about it.
-Several of my coworkers were sworn at.
-A few were reduced to tears.
-One of my coworkers was told to go "f*** himself"
-One of my sups was super happy to an abusive woman who gave up.
-Another of my coworkers was yelled at repeatedly until they caved and gave the woman a plastic bag...for her celery WHEN SHE HAD A GREEN BAG! (It is a MAJOR pet peeve of mine, as well as several ofmy coworkers when people use the green bags to carry their handbags or handbag-like stuff)

EDIT: Anyone have any ideas on what I can bring in or buy to share with my coworkers who have to also go through hell? I'm thinking cookies...lots and lots of cookies...probably stolen from EQ

[anyanka2]

My store discontinued plastic bags 6 months ago and there were still customers, mostly vacationers who live there during the summer, who asked for plastic. It's getting less frequent where I have to remind customers that we don't have plastic. I kind of miss the plastic bags. They were great for bagging cleaning supplies, roasted chickens, turkeys, and eggs.

Seriously, the hardest part about reusable bags is remembering them. I have a whole bunch that I usually forget to use.

[lupo pazzesco]

I love reusable bags. I don't have a car, so when I go grocery shopping it's all on the bus, and I"ll do one of two things. Bring 3 reusable bags (from Whole Foods and Half Priced Books, big, roomy and sturdy!!)

OR

I'll bring a rolling duffel bag if it's a big shopping trip with the bags. Cashiers at the stores tend to look at me funny when I stop them from putting my things in plastic bags and I start loading them in the duffel, but really, i don't care. The only time I'll consent to plastic is to wrap meat, if it's a bit leaky through the cellophane, or seafood I just bought fresh and want to make sure it doesn't leak over my produce. That's about it. It's not so much my active effort to go green as it is trying not to shuffle to the bus stop loaded down with grocery bags.

But going green sounds better.

[Evil Queen]

EDIT: Anyone have any ideas on what I can bring in or buy to share with my coworkers who have to also go through hell? I'm thinking cookies...lots and lots of cookies...probably stolen from EQ

Can't steal what's free.

I'd go with a big bag of chocolate and booze though. I like chocolate and booze.

[fireheart]

OK, more updates.

I was on a plastic bag free register today and kept tally. Here is my Mastercard commercial.

Number of abusive customers (i.e. those that screamed, yelled, swore at us etc.): 7
Number of plain difficult customers (i.e. those that wanted a bag or seemed unhappy): 13
Customers who would go to our big bag-free lane after they discovered that express was bag-free: priceless.

[Chromatix]

As I've mentioned before, Finland has a very simple solution to the problem. Plastic *and* paper bags are kept under the store end of the checkout conveyors. You want one (or more), you pull it out and put it on the belt. Then you pay for it with the rest of your shopping.

Then, probably, you bring it back and use it again next time - and they're strong enough to do so. I keep at least one from each major store chain in the small pocket of my main shopping backpack.

When they're worn out, you can use them as bin-bags.

[Bandit]

I'm an example of the law of unintended consequences kicks in....

I have a dog - and to pick up the poop (as per the law), having a plastic bag is needed.

So, if that was the case where I could not get a plastic bag (as per a law/regulation), what's plan B for the dog owners who also want to stay on the right side of the law?

And no, recycling poop bags is not really and option.... EWWWWWW

V

[Muses_nightmare]

they claim they "don't know about it." There are going to be signs. Oh and the checkouts have a slightly different design. HOW HARD IS IT TO NOT NOTICE?!

I can see this happening, I mean when the province I live in made all gas stations pre-pay people kept saying for MONTHS after the change that "they've never heard of that" It was all over the newspapers, radio, and TV, plus lots of people were talking about it.

On another note, I've heard word that my province is going to start getting rid of plastic bags. I can understand why, and I own several cloth bags, but I can see people being annoyed by it.

[fireheart]

I'm an example of the law of unintended consequences kicks in....

I have a dog - and to pick up the poop (as per the law), having a plastic bag is needed.

So, if that was the case where I could not get a plastic bag (as per a law/regulation), what's plan B for the dog owners who also want to stay on the right side of the law?

And no, recycling poop bags is not really and option.... EWWWWWW

V

I've got this a lot...to answer the question of picking up dog poop, beyond getting a pooper scooper, there is a small thing you can get that is about the size of a film canister and contains some bags in that. They usually come in a 3-pack. I find them in the baby section at work and they are meant to be used in the car, but they'd be just as easy to keep on you for picking up poop. They're not too expensive either.
Having said that, I don't market it at work mostly because I forget about them and it holds up the line because most people generally don't shop in the baby section.

EDIT: Management aren't happy about it either. Ironically though, it's brought all of the staff closer together. Most of us have worked on those lanes at least once so we can all sympathize with one another. We also have two newbies, one who started last week and one who's starting this week. I can't wait to meet the newbie for this week (the name is spelt Steff...is it a guy or girl?)