Most grocery stores here won't give out enough grocerie bags to save on money. They give out one or two bags and fill them up then the bag rips and the items fall out when I'm half way home. To prevent this from happening a bought a nice tote bag in the dollar store to carry out my groceries. These Totes are nice and strong and don't cost too much.
In my place grocery stores don't give us the bags. They expect you to carry your own bags or pay an extra cost for the bags. However, the totes are present but with a different name. You can buy one and use it for more than three months. By buying the totes I don't have to buy a bag every time I visit the grocery store.
The stores on Oahu that I go to gives paper bags for free. Walmart was the last store to stop giving bags, now they charge you for it as all the other stores do. Walmart has the cheapest tote bags for .50 that says Walmart in white letters. I go to Senior Fairs and get the free tote shopping bags they offer. Lately they've begun to limit these reusable totes they hand out at Senior Fairs.
This is really nice to have a permanent bag for shopping. Moreover, in the current scenario of rising plastic pollution it is the right way to go. In our country cops are very vigilant on this and nobody is allowed to carry low quality plastic carry bags. Also you have to pay a higher price at grocery store to get them. This is meant to discourage people from buying new bags every day. Nowadays I have seen people reusing the bags to pack their items. We are allowed to have plastic bags of 50 microns or above only so they are really strong and reusable. I always keep a bag with me while shopping. It not only saves money but also an environmental friendly initiative.
Most cities in Metro Manila have an ordinance banning the use of plastic bags in groceries and supermarkets. The options are the brown paper bag or used boxes from the supermarket's storage. But you can buy cloth bags that you can use for a long time. Our cars have several of those cloth bags so in case we shop for groceries then we have no problem with the carrying.
I use a large strong plastic bag that we once bought from the supermarket. It is the one that is allowed by the law. I reuse the same and have about 3 to four. Since I shop a lot I always carry them with me so that I save on buying them repeatedly.
I guess having plastic bags is becoming more of an issue now that cops are being vigilant for their use. I guess we can safely say that soon plastic bags will be completely removed from grocery stores. Now everyone can buy the reusable bags I wrote about as you said it's also enviromentally safe.
Not giving enough or any bags at all is a good way to make sure I'll never visit their store ever again. In butcheries, they usually hand out free tote bags on your first purchase. It isn't the most stylish since they have their logo and phone number on but hey, free is free.
I I do appreciate those free totes. I think they should be given out in stores where plastic bags are rarely given out. If they don't want to give out any plastic bags then they should give us a reusable one. I would understand if it was the law to remove the plastic bags but that law hasn't passed here so they need to make the customer happy.
That's true, huh? If it hurts them SO much to give people plastic bags, why not give them free tote bags. Maybe around 3 each person that has a store card. That way, the store won't have to give plastic bags every day and people won't have to deal with weak bags.
I prefer to use my own reusable bags when I can actually remember to bring them into the store! It saves on resources and they are much more sturdy than the plastic and paper bags that stores give away.
My mum has quite a few and she always takes them when she goes shopping. It is so much easier to carry things in them as they are stronger than the bags that supermarkets give out and they are reusable. They are quite cheap as well which makes them even greater.
Ever since there's a ban here on polythene bags, the stores have stopped giving carry bags for free. They now have introduced eco-friendly bags. Depending on the size of the bag, they'll charge. so, we carry our own bags to buy groceries. Actually, starting from a mall to local stores, we carry our own bags to save money on carry bags.
@moondebi Yes, it is high time that we ban those plastic bags. But I don't understand whey they encourage using plastic bags of 50 microns and above in our country. It is more harmful to environment I think. May be they think that people will reuse it so that it will cut down the quantity of plastic bags in circulation. I heard that in our country rules are going to be very strict in terms of plastic bag usage. All sellers should be registered with a particular authority if they want to use plastic bags, that too only 50 microns and above. The shops that are not registered won't be allowed to use plastic bags. Also a board stating that they will charge customer for plastic bags has to be displayed on each stores. I think finally our Government is taking it up seriously.
I use either a jute made bag or foldable shipping trolley for this purpose. I always transfer my grocery in these after I have paid for the grocery and either carry them on foot or put them in the boot of my car. I don't want to pay anything for the carry bags provided by stores and malls for a price.
