Supermarket Rant…well not really a rant.😁

[China Expat]

It's ten cents in So Cal. I don;t see a problem.

 

[barkley]

here in washington state you pay for any grocery bag unless you are on SNAP. i'm headed over to idaho for errands-no bag charge but groceries ARE taxed at 6%.

 

[Christine]

Here in Virginia you don't pay for any bags; however, Wegman's started charging last year for paper bags and no longer sells plastic but that was a store initiative versus a state/county thing.

 

[georgina]

Huh, that must be a Northern/West Coast thing. Never been charged for a bag in Louisiana or Florida.

Not at all surprised by this.

Aldi is the only place that charges for bags around here. I don't mind it, prefer reusable. But, it would be nice if they had a place, in store, where people could drop off their bags they no longer need - reusable, paper, plastic, and then you could fish through there for a bag if you forgot your own. Like Costco has for boxes. I shop mainly through Instacart so I have, no lie, 100+ brown paper bags tucked into each other in my basement. I would gladly donate these to somewhere that people could benefit from them.

My church collects paper bags for the local food bank, they use them to distribute food.

Here in Virginia you don't pay for any bags; however, Wegman's started charging last year for paper bags and no longer sells plastic but that was a store initiative versus a state/county thing.

Regulated retailers in the City of Alexandria will be required to charge a five-cent fee per disposable plastic bag provided at checkout starting January 1, 2022. The plastic bag tax ordinances have been adopted by Arlington and Fairfax counties, too.

https://www.alexandriava.gov/dchs-c... the City,Arlington and Fairfax counties, too.

 

[mjkacmom]

How about self-serv gas, does New Jersey allow that yet?

No, thank goodness!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Not who you quoted but you can not pump your own gas in NJ, as of yet.

So I guess it still is NJ and Oregon.

 

[kymom99]

My son lived in New York State for the summer season for work. We found out about no plastic bags and charges for paper bags. We bought him some reusable bags and he did just fine.

When I see how much waste comes from those bags, I think it’s a good idea to make people think twice about it. My pantry is overflowing with Kroger plastic bags. I’m guilty of it.

 

[prairie_girl]

Who knew stores were still using paper bags lol

They seem very impractical because if you do a huge shop, how are you supposed to handle them all? I get using the cart at the store, but at home you’d have to make 10 trips to get them all lol

 

[mjkacmom]

I order Shoprite online, I pay $1.50 each order for bags (that’s the most they charged regardless of how many you get). I can return them but I’m guessing they get thrown out, I’ve offered them on local passing along pages or our local food pantry.

 

[AppleDumpling]

Who knew stores were still using paper bags lol

They seem very impractical because if you do a huge shop, how are you supposed to handle them all? I get using the cart at the store, but at home you’d have to make 10 trips to get them all lol

It’s no different than plastic if the paper bags have handles, which many do. If they don’t, you can still carry a couple at a time. I prefer paper because they have more structure and a bottom to keep items contained, and they’re not sliding around in the car so much. Also biodegradable, and they don’t clog waterways and get stuck in trees.

 

[Genie+]

I feel the same way about this as I feel about straws. There was short lived pain making the transition followed by improvement to our actual lives.

Straws - DH stopped for fountain coke everyday. He was mad when they stopped the straws a few years ago. Frustrated he went and bought a Yeti cup with straw. He absolutely loves it! Better than ever, and now he’s not getting styrofoam cups or straws daily anymore. Better for all of us.

Bags - I grumbled after forgetting my grocery bags when they stopped supplying a couple years ago. Then I repurposed an old 2 bag weekend travel set with a couple other reusable bags we had. Omg life became easier. Less bags to pack and bring into the house. Now I have a great system. All the cold stuff goes in the zipper bag. Everything better and quicker. Wish we would’ve done this sooner. It was sad how many disposable grocery bags we had to regularly purge. Many times more than all other bags combined, so this one thing is having the greatest impact.

tldr: we may have felt a bit resentful being forced but now that we have adapted we are thankful. Happy Thanksgiving

 

[Kwami]

Who knew stores were still using paper bags lol

They seem very impractical because if you do a huge shop, how are you supposed to handle them all? I get using the cart at the store, but at home you’d have to make 10 trips to get them all lol

We just use a smaller fold-up cart at home to move the bags inside from the car. It's not that complicated. Plus, a lot of paper bags have handles these days. You could also just get reusable bags and not worry about it.

Or, keep polluting with your plastic bags because you're too lazy to make a second trip to the car. I guess that's an option, too.

I don't know about bags in my city. At some point, all plastic bags were banned and everyone switched to paper. Then, at some later point, Walgreens seemed to switch back to plastic somehow while everyone else is still using paper. I'm not sure why they're able to do that, but nobody's stopped them. Delivery food still comes in plastic sometimes, too, but most doesn't. We don't get charged for bags, anyway.

 

[Pooh2]

Not who you quoted but you can not pump your own gas in NJ, as of yet.

NJ is the only state we've run into this.
On a recent road trip, we pulled into a very busy service station right off the highway.
My husband jumped out and proceeded to pump the gas.
The attendant was super busy and came over as he was finishing up and told him it was illegal to pump your own gas.
My husband started cracking up, thinking he was joking!
The guy told my husband he appreciated the help as they were very short handed.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Here in Virginia you don't pay for any bags; however, Wegman's started charging last year for paper bags and no longer sells plastic but that was a store initiative versus a state/county thing.

Some areas of VA do. Fairfax and Loudoun counties charge 5 cents for plastic bags.

 

[luv2cheer92]

NJ is the only state we've run into this.
On a recent road trip, we pulled into a very busy service station right off the highway.
My husband jumped out and proceeded to pump the gas.
The attendant was super busy and came over as he was finishing up and told him it was illegal to pump your own gas.
My husband started cracking up, thinking he was joking!
The guy told my husband he appreciated the help as they were very short handed.

NJ is the only state left. Oregon was still up until a few months ago.

 

[Imzadi]

Here in Manhattan they charge per paper bag too. About 5¢-10¢. There are so many tourists here, each store always has paper bags to buy. Also, I randomly go into a store, unplanned, and see something to buy and didn't bring a bag with me. Many times, I forget to refill my handbag with them after using them. I don't have a car trunk to toss a stash in.

Get this: In Brooklyn, they don't even have paper bags to buy PERIOD. You HAVE to buy the $1.50 reusable bags. I went to three different stores in different parts of Brooklyn at separate times. None of them have paper bags. I guess they don't get tourists or out-of-towners who haven't brought their own bags.

 

[Imzadi]

I was in HomeGoods in NJ last night buying some lovely, low, wide dinner bowls. I had planned on it, so I brought a big cloth bag with me. But, when I asked the cashier for extra paper to wrap the bowls, she said they ran out. (Customers really did raid the dishware aisle.) I was staring at the gift wrap across the aisle for $5 a roll and thinking I'd have get that. Then I asked how much the paper bags were. I thought even at 10¢-50¢ a bag it would be cheaper than spending $5 on a roll. She said FREE! I was in shock. I was able to get 5 extra paper bags to wrap up everything before tucking into the cloth bag.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I’m in NJ. No free bags but I don’t have to pump my own gas. If I’m in Philly I will cross the bridge on E so I can go to a NJ gas station. If they ever make us pump our own gas I will cry.

 

[jo-jo]

here in washington state you pay for any grocery bag unless you are on SNAP. i'm headed over to idaho for errands-no bag charge but groceries ARE taxed at 6%.

i wonder why SNAP doesn’t pay? So does the store pay the fee or does it come out of snap account?

 

[Imzadi]

i wonder why SNAP doesn’t pay? So does the store pay the fee or does it come out of snap account?

Probably because if one can't afford to buy food, they probably can't afford the bags to lug the food home. The second part I know nothing about.