stores charging for bags?

[disykat]

I think our bags are generally 8 cents. At the beginning, many years ago here on the West Coast, I had bought a few reusable bags, but now I have a routine that involves reusing the 8 cent bags. I keep a bunch of the thick reusable 8 cent bags stuffed in a sturdy reusable I had purchased. I grab the whole bag when I go in the store and always have plenty of bags. If I forget, I buy few more 8 cent bags and add them to my stash when I get home. I've been using reusables for many years now, though did take a break during the height of the pandemic as mentioned above. That's when I accumulated the heavier plastic store bags. I much prefer doing it this way rather than my mismash of reusables I had purchased the first few years. They're definitely easier to rinse out and I'll be able to throw away if needed. (Though I have to stay they are so strong that those bags aren't going anywhere! A lot of my original purchased bags have broken, but those 8 cent store bags are hefty and I haven't had to get rid of a single one yet.) I felt like some of my original purchased reusables got grimy and I don't worry about these because it's easy to give them a quick rinse. I leave all the big stuff out of bags in the cart and generally stash them in a big Costco bag I have in the trunk when I get to the car. I've finally gotten in a routine and probably haven't bought any new bags in well over a year.

Even after this many years of using reusables, I STILL have some of the old thin plastic bags that I use to line my trashbags left! DH and I agree we'll be sad when they are all gone.

 

[LilyWDW]

Chicago charges. Not that big of a deal. You get used to bringing a bag. If I do forget, then I pay the 7 cents per bag.

 

[loves to dive]

Not here in Georgia, at least not in my town or the stores I go to. You don't get the choice of paper or plastic any more they are all plastic but free or you can use your own or buy one of their reusable ones.

 

[sheilafri]

No charges in Iowa but I try to Reduce and Reuse (not enough left to Recycle). I’ve several reusable bags and have gotten much better lately about remembering to take them in. I don’t get bags at stores when I’ve only bought a couple items. I used to drown in plastic bags, now I just get enough to line my garbage pail.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

I will clarify. The state of PA has not banned plastic bags but the chain Wegmans has. In Wegmans stores there are no plastic bags and .05 charged for paper bags.

Sorry if it came across that way....I wasn't trying to correct you. Just saying that Philadelphia has it's own rules, like the ridiculous beverage tax (another complaint for another day LOL). I'm right on the border of Philadelphia and Montgomery County and it's dumb that if I go to a grocery store 5 minutes further down the road I can get a plastic bag.

 

[monsterkitty]

OP, if you shop at Walmart, they have pulled all plastic bags because they don't want to mess with the charging for bags. You have to bring your own, purchase reusables, or just do without.

 

[Christine]

Sounds like your county/city initiated a bag tax. Mine has not but some stores are just doing it on their own to be environmentally conscious. Took me about a week, but I got used to the reusable bags (bought a 12 pack with sturdy bottoms from Amazon) and I actually love them now. They hold so much and they are easy to haul everything in the house.

 

[NotUrsula]

We had several stores begin this practice in Jan 2020, but swiftly ended it when the county banned reusable bags during the pandemic. None of them have gone back yet, with the exception of Aldi which charged all along. I'm not sure the ban has actually been lifted.

At Aldi I tend to just take the cart to my car and put the items in the bins/bags I keep in the cargo area. We have TONS of cloth tote bags because I pick them up free at trade shows every year. DH, otoh, just buys the paper bags; he can't be bothered keeping up with reusable bags, and always did prefer paper.

WalMarts here still provide very poor-quality plastic bags for free; they are so prone to ripping that most people at least double them, and sometimes triple them for heavy items. I immediately recycle them. Target also gives free plastic bags, but I keep those for re-use because they are decently sturdy.

I noticed on a recent trip that WDW, which was charging for bags during 2019-early 2020, but dropped the practice when they reopened during the pandemic, is still giving out free plastic bags with purchases now. (I did buy 4 of their 50th Anniversary Tyvek totes, just because I like them.)

 

[bcla]

Yep. Costco is the same way. They have never provided bags.

There was a time when Costco provided paper bags. At least our local ones did. It wasn't for more than maybe a few years though. Whenever I get anything at the pharmacy, those always go into Costco labelled paper bags and get stapled closed. That might be a requirement under my state's laws though.

Not sure exactly where this comes from:

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Like a PP said, in NJ all the stores charge for their reusable bags. I have a bunch of reusables that I bring into stores. I keep them in my bedroom closet near where I hang my purse so I don't forget them, especially when I'm doing the grocery shopping.

I'm confessing right now: my cousin scored 500 single-use plastic bags at Restaurant Depot. I use them to line wastebaskets and for kitchen scraps. I feel a bit guilty, but not guilty enough to stop using them just yet. Sorry.

 

[Imzadi]

Here in NYC, it's between 10¢ - 20¢ per PAPER bag. (Our law is no more plastic bags.) And of course, one needs 2 paper bags to be sturdy enough to make it home.

One store charges us for bags in which the handle paper handle breaks off half way down the block. So, not only are we forced to pay for something that stores used to INCLUDE FOR FREE as part of their service, we don't even get a sturdy bag.

The majority of us don't have have a car to be able to place re-usable plastic bags into for only when we need them. So, I end up with a few older plastic grocery bags in my big handbag. When security has to check my bag, I always mention all the bags stuffed into my bag, in case I seem like a bag lady to them. But, they get it. Apparently, a lot of people here go through the same thing. Either we carry around all these extra bags with us, or we are paying 10¢ - 20¢ every time we shop.

 

[Imzadi]

Like a PP said, in NJ all the stores charge for their reusable bags. I have a bunch of reusables that I bring into stores. I keep them in my bedroom closet near where I hang my purse so I don't forget them, especially when I'm doing the grocery shopping.

NJ may be the first state to re-allow some bags back in some cases. NJ doesn't allow paper bags either in most types of stores. Now too many people and organizations end up with a surplus of the re-usable Fresh Direct type bags. Too much of ANYTHING is not good.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/n...er-bags-nj-supermarkets-comeback/69544257007/

I'm confessing right now: my cousin scored 500 single-use plastic bags at Restaurant Depot. I use them to line wastebaskets and for kitchen scraps. I feel a bit guilty, but not guilty enough to stop using them just yet. Sorry.

Exactly! I still need my plastic bags for my wastebaskets. And I prefer them to paper bags when I'm bringing home frozen foods. Paper bags get soggy when wet items go in it. All this plastic bag ban law has done is shuffle the buying of plastic bags onto the customers instead of the stores supplying them. And instead of us getting and reusing the plastic grocery bags, we have to buy the plastic kitchen trash bags instead.

I am still looking for a source for plastic grocery bags with handles. I've seen some, but they are too small. Some are were actually larger size. This way, I can still use them for groceries before using them for my trash - which is what I've been doing all along.

 

[jrmasm]

NJ may be the first state to re-allow some bags back in some cases. NJ doesn't allow paper bags either in most types of stores. Now too many people and organizations end up with a surplus of the re-usable Fresh Direct type bags. Too much of ANYTHING is not good.

https://www.northjersey.com/story/n...er-bags-nj-supermarkets-comeback/69544257007/



Exactly! I still need my plastic bags for my wastebaskets. And I prefer them to paper bags when I'm bringing home frozen foods. Paper bags get soggy when wet items go in it. All this plastic bag ban law has done is shuffle the buying of plastic bags onto the customers instead of the stores supplying them. And instead of us getting and reusing the plastic grocery bags, we have to buy the plastic kitchen trash bags instead.

I am still looking for a source for plastic grocery bags with handles. I've seen some, but they are too small. Some are were actually larger size. This way, I can still use them for groceries before using them for my trash - which is what I've been doing all along.

Something like this might help you. They fold up very small.

sorry, I can’t get the link to work, Search Amazon for foldable reusable shopping bags. There are some that are shaped like a plastic grocery bag that are made from rip stop material and fold up very small. I’ve also bought them at Aldi and IKEA.

 

[mamamary]

Was supposed to start in MD, but as of now, I don't think it has. It hadn't as of last Wednesday.

It hasn’t. I went shopping today.

 

[ronandannette]

For at least a decade. The way around it is to bring in your own.

Yep - I can't even remember back to when plastic bags were free at stores. And as of December 31, 2022, they are entirely banned. Funny thing, I was a student working at a grocery store back in 1986 when plastic bags were first introduced. Since time immemorial people had been packing their groceries out in sturdy paper bags and they felt like the plastic bags were some weird scheme designed to rip them off. It was pretty dramatic at first. Now, I can't believe what a pain it is to try and carry out full paper bags of groceries.

as of the 1st of January in my city plastic bags are no longer even available to purchase - been charging for them for at least 5 years. Some drug stores have paper bags to purchase but everything from the corner store to grocery stores and clothing stores have reusable bags for sale. We've been using those for decades now, might be a small measure but it's just habit for us now. Cutlery and dishes with take out food have also begun to be replaced. We live in a mid-size city just outside of Toronto Ontario for reference purposes.

Plastic cutlery is reaaaaaaaly going to hurt when the ban kicks in (December 31, 2023). Have you tried using those nasty wooden monstrosities?

The state of California has a mandatory minimum 10 cent charge. Several counties had a requirement even before the state. The requirement is also that any plastic bags be reusable and of sufficient strength to last at least 100-125 washings, or paper bags. I haven't seen plastic bags at Trader Joe's in years.

Some cities charge even more. I've been to a few where it's 25 cents.

I've been in a few stores where a clerk just said take it even though I didn't pay for a bag. And restaurants can still provide bags without charging, including paper or plastic.

Yes, here too. Not the most logical thing from an environmental perspective.

 

[tvguy]

OP, if you shop at Walmart, they have pulled all plastic bags because they don't want to mess with the charging for bags. You have to bring your own, purchase reusables, or just do without.

Not in California. Their bags are reusable plastic bags.

 

[kyton]

Here in Australia we’ve been charged for bags for years and years. In the last month or so we have now had single use plastics also pulled from shelves - so no more plastic cutlery, plastic plates, plastic straws etc. even q-tips are changing to no longer having a plastic stem.

 

[dioxide45]

We live in Florida, so no charge for bags in most stores. Whenever I go to Aldi, I usually have a reusable bag with me but if I don't I pay the $0.15 for one of their plastic ones. THe only place we have seen charges for plastic bags is when we visit California. It is annoying, but not something we can't afford. I mean, if I need 10, it is only an extra buck and the bags are much thicker than the cheap thin ones the stores use in Florida. So if they are doing it for the environment, I don't know how a big thick plastic bag is better than the thin ones I get at home for free. When we go to Arizona, the stores have the same thick plastic bags that are in California, except the ones in Arizona are free. Go figure.... Whenever we go to Hawaii, they never seem to have any bags of any kind in the grocery store.

The reality is that those reusable cloth bags are manufactured and handed out like candy with some company's logo in it. Count in your head how many reusable bags you probably have in your house right now. Some statistic mentioned that you might have to use that one reusable bag 7,000 times for it to have the same environmental impact as a plastic bag. In the long run, they certainly aren't much better for the environment than plastic bags. Reusable bags just may not end up as litter as much as the plastic grocery bags do. The whole thing is a big racket.

 

[kanne323]

I recently moved states, but the bag laws are the same or similar (ME and NJ)- ten cents to buy a paper bag, or bring your own. I've been using my own reusable bags for well over 20 years, since I lived in Boston and realized it was a lot easier to pack groceries into a canvas tote rather than manage plastic grocery bags walking a long distance.

We have come a long way- I remember moving to NJ in the mid 2000s and bringing a small canvas bag to the mall. Macy's wouldn't let me not take my item in their plastic bag even though I had my own bag.

Nowadays, I keep a stash of bags in the car, and after I empty grocery bags, I leave them near the front door so I can't forget to put them back in the car. I also keep a few small reusable bags that fold up easily in my purse and one in my winter coat pocket, as I can walk to a handful of town businesses.

 

[Imzadi]

Something like this might help you. They fold up very small.

sorry, I can’t get the link to work, Search Amazon for foldable reusable shopping bags. There are some that are shaped like a plastic grocery bag that are made from rip stop material and fold up very small. I’ve also bought them at Aldi and IKEA.

Thank YOU! I actually prefer the SHAPE of the plastic grocery bags. The handles are along the side edges. So when one lifts them and walks with ones hands down by one's side, the orientation of the bag is that it hangs sideways and doesn't bang into one's legs.

On the Fresh Direct bags, the handle is too long to carry at one's side. I have to tie the two handles together, at the top of each bag, to shorten the handles and get them to lay in the right orientation to grab and carry. And while empty, they are just too darn big to fold up and put in my handbag.