So recently the two major supermarket chains in Australia, no longer use single use plastic bags. You can buy canvas bags for $1 or re-usable plastic bags for 15c each.

From what I’ve heard from friends who work there..complaints have been non-stop. I’m not outraged by it, but I’ll admit my shopping has dropped significantly since the ban took place. If i do go I forget about the ban and end up carrying everything by hand like a moron.


Do you think this is a good idea for the environment or just a major inconvenience for shoppers? Would you be in favour of this being implemented in your area or is it already?

The outrage about this has been a true "holy fuck where are we at as a society" moment.

My only complaint is that the supermarkets are being hypocritical by claiming it's for environmental reasons - yet continue to unnecessarily overpack fruit and vegetables in plastic. They're fucking bananas - they have their own inbuilt packaging!

I’m firmly behind a plastic bag ban.

Plastic is amazing, but it also takes eons to decompose and is filling our landfills and oceans.

My mom and I have made strides the past couple years to reduce our carbon footprint. We’ve always recycled and donated what we could but we started composting and really trying to cut down on packaging and plastic. It’s crazy how much we used, how many things are made of plastic. We’ve started using reusable bags (including nylon produce bags), flushable cat litter (its wheat), saying no to plastic straws and utensils, reusable drinking containers, using containers (yes plastic but reusable) for our lunches and freezer items instead of ziploc bags. It’s definitely a work in progress but one I think is worth it.

Cali hit that ban a few years back, inconvenient as shit for a while, but eventually just fades into the background.

Sorry to be blunt but if people can complain about a 15c fee for a bag, they've got a little too much time on their hands. Plus those reusable bags are really reusable, they've lasted me multiple trips and you just keep them in the boot. Very easy to do.

Jul 11, 2018 6:36:38 GMT @admin said:

The outrage about this has been a true "holy fuck where are we at as a society" moment.

My only complaint is that the supermarkets are being hypocritical by claiming it's for environmental reasons - yet continue to unnecessarily overpack fruit and vegetables in plastic. They're fucking bananas - they have their own inbuilt packaging!

You guys sell those plastic bag bananas? I thought it was an american thing only. It is just so fucking stupid. 

Jul 11, 2018 9:15:26 GMT Call said:

Sorry to be blunt but if people can complain about a 15c fee for a bag, they've got a little too much time on their hands. Plus those reusable bags are really reusable, they've lasted me multiple trips and you just keep them in the boot. Very easy to do.

I had the police called to my work because A guy refused to leave after he asked if I could let him slide .5c (my till has to balance). Hhe had plenty of money left he just didn’t want to break a note.
Nothing suprises me from the general public anymore.

The UK has had this plastic bag law for a few years now. There was a little backlash at first, nothing severe, but now everyone accepts it, and most people bring their own bags when they go shopping. It's not a major inconvenience at all. The good far outweighs the bad.

Who puts Bananas in a plastic bag? I've never heard of a such a thing. Weirdos.

Do these other countries outside the US regularly have paper bags in the grocery stores?

I fully support this too, iron maiden, as well as the move to eliminate plastic straws.

In our supermarkets, you usually get a lot of loose fresh fruit, but you also occasionally see groups of fruit in a pre-packed bag. I've never really thought about it, but it is weird. The only rationale I can think of is laziness. People are too lazy to weigh/carry a bunch of loose fruit so they grab a bag with a fixed weight.

I reuse plastic bags for my work lunches/dog poop, so I'm very against this! Although I'm not in an area where it's an issue.

meanwhile in america.

cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2016/03/08/70086384-2d78-4f4f-9ab8-5fddb0dfcf0e/thumbnail/620x350/73f95b6f5430f39c753299cbaca6a150/screen-shot-2016-03-08-at-10-27-15-am.png

Jul 11, 2018 19:16:47 GMT theend said:

meanwhile in america.

cbsnews1.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2016/03/08/70086384-2d78-4f4f-9ab8-5fddb0dfcf0e/thumbnail/620x350/73f95b6f5430f39c753299cbaca6a150/screen-shot-2016-03-08-at-10-27-15-am.png

Ain't nobody got time to deal with peeling an orange.

Lets not forget this isn't entirely the decision of the supermarkets. Daniel Andrews, Premier of Victoria, stated that Victoria would introduce a ban on plastic bags, with the start date to be announced in early 2018.

Australia is so far behind the rest of the world with this sort of stuff, and this being something, that might end up costing you $2.00 over the first 12 months really something to be outraged about? Fucking move on.

This sums it up.

Jul 11, 2018 8:57:38 GMT RagnarokMike said:

Cali hit that ban a few years back, inconvenient as shit for a while, but eventually just fades into the background.

Jul 11, 2018 9:15:26 GMT Call said:

Sorry to be blunt but if people can complain about a 15c fee for a bag, they've got a little too much time on their hands. Plus those reusable bags are really reusable, they've lasted me multiple trips and you just keep them in the boot. Very easy to do.

+1
It's fifteen cents (I think 10 in California). It's a minor annoyance but you get used to it pretty quickly, always keeping a few bags in the car or an extra in your backpack or something. And if you forget, then it's fifteen cents.

Jul 11, 2018 14:34:38 GMT System said:

Jul 11, 2018 9:15:26 GMT Call said:

Sorry to be blunt but if people can complain about a 15c fee for a bag, they've got a little too much time on their hands. Plus those reusable bags are really reusable, they've lasted me multiple trips and you just keep them in the boot. Very easy to do.

I had the police called to my work because A guy refused to leave after he asked if I could let him slide .5c (my till has to balance). Hhe had plenty of money left he just didn’t want to break a note.
Nothing suprises me from the general public anymore.

Sorry to hear that, looks like you stumbled across one of those people who needs to be angry and comes up with the smallest reasons to get wound up.

Jul 13, 2018 0:58:43 GMT Call said:

Jul 11, 2018 14:34:38 GMT System said:

I had the police called to my work because A guy refused to leave after he asked if I could let him slide .5c (my till has to balance). Hhe had plenty of money left he just didn’t want to break a note.
Nothing suprises me from the general public anymore.

Sorry to hear that, looks like you stumbled across one of those people who needs to be angry and comes up with the smallest reasons to get wound up.

All good, I work in a club, I get my life threatened at least once a week😂.

The straw ban would be a godsend for me but I feel like we’d get too many complaints for it to happen.

Jul 12, 2018 8:37:02 GMT NATH45 said:

Australia is so far behind the rest of the world with this sort of stuff, and this being something, that might end up costing you $2.00 over the first 12 months really something to be outraged about? Fucking move on.

There is a 250+ page thread on the whirlpool forums about it. :lol:

As the token grumpy 40+ white Australian, I don't really get banning plastic bags.
What do you people use to take your rubbish out to the bins?
We use the plastic supermarket bags for our trash...
So now I pack my goods into reusable bags and now have to buy plastic tidy bags to put my trash out... Same result, just costs me more money.
I'm not outraged, I just don't get it...

Yeah it's been in California for awhile now. It's really not that a big deal. If your buying a fuck ton of groceries I can see it being a little more annoying but for me personally, I never really buy more than two bags worth at once anyways. I'm that guy that will go to the store like 3 times a week instead of going just once and get one big trip out of it.

Jul 13, 2018 13:57:58 GMT iNCY said:

As the token grumpy 40+ white Australian, I don't really get banning plastic bags.
What do you people use to take your rubbish out to the bins?
We use the plastic supermarket bags for our trash...
So now I pack my goods into reusable bags and now have to buy plastic tidy bags to put my trash out... Same result, just costs me more money.
I'm not outraged, I just don't get it...

this so much. Until thet come up with some sort of biodegradable garbage bag, all it means the guys selling plastic garbage bags make more money

Jul 13, 2018 13:57:58 GMT iNCY said:

As the token grumpy 40+ white Australian, I don't really get banning plastic bags.
What do you people use to take your rubbish out to the bins?
We use the plastic supermarket bags for our trash...
So now I pack my goods into reusable bags and now have to buy plastic tidy bags to put my trash out... Same result, just costs me more money.
I'm not outraged, I just don't get it...

Its not about you.

If everyone were like you and re-used the bags for trash, or picking up dog poop, then this likely doesn't become an issue. But too many of the bags are ending up as litter, clogging up the sewage system and whatnot.

Other people are why you can't have nice things.

At least we still have straws...

Jul 16, 2018 2:34:05 GMT Michinokudriver said:

Jul 13, 2018 13:57:58 GMT iNCY said:

As the token grumpy 40+ white Australian, I don't really get banning plastic bags.
What do you people use to take your rubbish out to the bins?
We use the plastic supermarket bags for our trash...
So now I pack my goods into reusable bags and now have to buy plastic tidy bags to put my trash out... Same result, just costs me more money.
I'm not outraged, I just don't get it...

Its not about you.

If everyone were like you and re-used the bags for trash, or picking up dog poop, then this likely doesn't become an issue. But too many of the bags are ending up as litter, clogging up the sewage system and whatnot.

Other people are why you can't have nice things.

Yes, but why target the bags rather than the umpteen other items of plastic packaging?
It just seems like tokenism.
Why not utilize recycled paper for all packaging?

Jul 17, 2018 23:19:16 GMT iNCY said:

Yes, but why target the bags rather than the umpteen other items of plastic packaging?
It just seems like tokenism.
Why not utilize recycled paper for all packaging?

Who says they're not targeting anything else?

Also, this hopefully would light a fire under you or someone like you, who starts saying why NOT also reduce the amount of packaging? Why do I order something from Amazon and each item comes in its own individual extra-large box with Styrofoam peanuts? What if I opt out of the two-day shipping for items I don't have an immediate need for, and ask them to ship all my items together in one box to save on packaging and the fuel it costs to ship?

junkee.com/coles-double-backflip-plastic/170101

I’d be curious to know if there has been a decline in sales since the ban, I shop at Woolworths (same ban) but i’ve shopped a lot lesss since the ban. I’m guessing there is, considering the original reverse that got reversed 😂.

It's annoying that people are using the supermarkets incompetence to plan for obvious issues (like the fact it would obviously slow down the checkout process) to justify being assholes. Just take a fucking bag.

Jul 24, 2018 1:02:05 GMT Michinokudriver said:

Jul 17, 2018 23:19:16 GMT iNCY said:

Yes, but why target the bags rather than the umpteen other items of plastic packaging?
It just seems like tokenism.
Why not utilize recycled paper for all packaging?

Who says they're not targeting anything else?

Also, this hopefully would light a fire under you or someone like you, who starts saying why NOT also reduce the amount of packaging? Why do I order something from Amazon and each item comes in its own individual extra-large box with Styrofoam peanuts? What if I opt out of the two-day shipping for items I don't have an immediate need for, and ask them to ship all my items together in one box to save on packaging and the fuel it costs to ship?

They're not targeting anything else, why not focus on completely eliminating plastic instead of playing around the fringes of the issues?
It's all about a lot more than packaging though.


Why not focus on energy? There is more environmental harm done in the manufacture of packaging than there is in an occasional seal choking on a plastic bag.
You can't have a plastic bag, but we'll ship your fruit from Mexico because it's cheaper even though it burns fossil fuels, it's all good.
Even organic food goes in the back of a diesel truck.
I don't think people really understand manufacturing and how ugly it is.