Expected shitstorm...

[fireheart]

So we've got less than 2 weeks to go until the inevitable day...

May 4th...

PLASTIC BAG BAN!!!!



My store hasn't changed much. It's gonna be a real shock to the system though. We've got two big lanes bag-free and all the express lanes are bag free.

So far, minor irritations are as follows (some of which fall into Sucky Customers):

1) Giving bags on bag-free lanes. It makes the concept moot. Only time I've ever done it has been leading up to Christmas, and when we've become flat-out i.e. 5 deep on ALL the registers.
2) People who need a bag on express coming down to a big lane, holding up the line for those who need to be on a big lane. All for the sake of a bag.
3) People leaning over the unmanned checkouts and nicking a bag without asking. (nick=taking) Partially a Cursing Out Coworker here because people forget to shut the checkout when they go off, or they forget to take the bags off.
4) Soundboarding. sorry people, I do NOT get paid for this.
5) People getting confused or confusing ME about what is and isn't banned. (to explain-ONLY the checkout-style bags are banned, all the others are being kept) One lady managed to make me say that we'd be providing the bags for meat.
6) Peole thinking that the cooler bags can't be washed (they can, check the care tag)

My boss however, has been wonderful about the whole thing, taking the crap best he can while dishing it out calmly...(if you've seen Memoirs Of A Geisha, think hatakikomi) and we don't get in trouble for it.

But while I've noticed more people REMEMBERING their bags,

[artifical sweetner]

least they're phasing out plastic not paper.

at our foodstore they got rid of all paper but are pushing plastic...HMM plastic is worse dum dums!

[bainsidhe]

So we've got less than 2 weeks to go until the inevitable day...

May 4th...

PLASTIC BAG BAN!!!!

~Faints~

[Iced Coffee Man]

Good luck.

[fireheart]

Well, the store (dunno about the company) is getting around it by doing the following:

1) Not allowing us to open any more boxes of bags and/or keeping it to one box for two registers.
2) Putting up signs and countdown markers saying <Number> of days to go until the bag ban" But we know SC's don't read...
3) I haven't been on express yet, but I get the feeling that we're no longer allowed to give bags out for those registers.


And it's now 8 days to go.....

Also other companies/stores have been doing the following:

1) Not doing anything because they carry an alternative anyway well before the ban. (usually the designer clothing stores and game stores)
2) Changing to an acceptable alternative (smaller stores)
3) Not having any bags at all and requiring customers to either buy or bring their own bags.

Me? I now keep a 5-pack of said bags on me at all times in case of emergencies. Not the green bags that are square at the bottom, the foldable ones.

Oh and I've noticed more customers want to bag for themselves. Riiiight...how hard is it to state "I don't want it heavy!" or to bring in more than ONE cooler bag?

[MsFabulous]

Our store started charging a very small amount for plastic bags about a year ago, and all the money made from that goes to a charity group that works to clean up our coastlines...

Expect, at first, probably at least a third of people making some stupid comment or giving you dirty looks In that group there will also be people who chew you out, yell at you and blame you personally for the change. There will probably be some who throw down their stuff on the counter and storm out when they hear the news. There will probably be many idiots who ask you "Well how am I supposed to carry this?!?!?!?!"

BUT, there will also be a few customers who, especially if you explain *why* the ban, will say what a good idea it is and how you all are doing a good job by enforcing it

I think if you're expecting it all, the bad people will be easier to deal with

And, GOOD LUCK!!!

[fireheart]

MsFabulous, I've had all of the above and this is how I've dealt with it on a personal scale.

People storming out and leaving their stuff behind-we giggle to ourselves because when the bag ban comes around, NOBODY will be providing ANY form of banned plastic bags for free. So basically, they're gonna run into the same problem elsewhere.
Soundboarding-I ignore it. I've already explained to management that I do not get paid (enough at this stage ) to be a soundboard and they know it. Most people have generally realised that it's not our fault. They yell and scream at me, I send them down to my manager. We don't get in trouble for refusing soundboarding.
And as for "How am I supposed to carry this?!" well, this is a typical way most people deal with it:

-they grab a trolley and use it.
-they buy a few bags and use them.
-they try and steal baskets. Now we have permission to call security if they leave the store. Nowhere allows a store to take out baskets.
-they'll carry them in their hands.
-they use their handbags.

[PepperElf]

they're not phasing out plastic here but i will say the cloth bags do have a few advantages

they last longer and can hold more.

[fireheart]

Seven days to go...

Well from what I could gather today (and Friday night), here are the observations:

-I'm getting less soundboarding, but I think there's more than one reason to it (don't want to give away my store)
-Some people are a bit more hostile however, but that gets dealt with by management and security.
-A lot more people are remembering a bag, so it's a start at least.
-Our local newspaper published an article today about the backlash the front end receives about the bag-free policy. Reading the comments on the website however...it's 50-50. Several are sane, others are merely talking about how the stores are laughing their way to the bank.
-I think we ARE offering plastic-bags that meet the guidelines, but they won't be free. Not 100% sure...

[Primer]

Does the store allow customers to use the boxes that the stuff was shipped in? I'm thinking like what the wholesale clubs here do. No bags, but you get to use whatever boxes may be available.

[BlaqueKatt]

at our foodstore they got rid of all paper but are pushing plastic...HMM plastic is worse dum dums!

nope-paper is actually worse
paper bags are better than plastic-right?

Paper sacks generate 70% more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags.
Source: "Comparison of the Effects on the Environment of Polyethylene and Paper Carrier Bags," Federal Office of the Environment, August 1988

[fireheart]

In regards to boxes...

-We use plastic crates as opposed to boxes when we can, but even so, they get crushed and recycled anyway.
-We've had quite a few cases of shoplifting where people have stashed stuff inside a box and then just walked out. (all of which have been subsequently busted )
-It's nearly impossible to avoid cross contamination if you have one big box.
-There is no way you can fit four or five smaller boxes into a trolley.

ETA: 4 days to go....

[Kagato]

Most of the local shops near where I live have the reusable cloth bags available for as cheap as $1, and they are actually quite durable, my gran has half a dozen or so that we use during our weekly shopping.

That being said, some stores still use plastic bags, others are phasing them out. One supermarket has charged a fee for plastic bags ever since they appeared on the scene nearly TWENTY YEARS AGO, they have the cardboard boxes that the products come in freely available for people to take their shopping home in, but if you want a plastic bag it costs 15 cents or something like that.

Another shop (The Warehouse) has recently started phasing out plastic bags, you now need to pay 10 cents per plastic bag which is donated to charity, or as mentioned above, you can get one of the reusable cloth bags.

[fireheart]

Kagato, that's similar to what we're doing. Most people however, tend to forget them and whinge to us, or whinge about having to wash one for the meat.

Our store's started selling these heavier boutique-style bags which are 15c per bag. I've started marking them with pen so I can tell which ones are brand new and which ones have been reused.

ETA: It begins tomorrow!

[fireheart]

OK, and it's begun...

Most people are showing restraint at the checkouts thank god, but online...man, it seems like people have nothing better to bitch about. 526 comments last time I checked

work's brought in some 15c bags, they're selling OK. I found out how strong they were the other day-they could hold a pack of 12 mini soft drink bottles without breaking. As well as about another kg or so of food.