Do you think plastic shopping bags are getting flimsy?

[debodun]

They are getting so thin, they are like tissue paper. They usually split before I get them out to the car. If the stores are trying to save money it's not the way. Sometimes clerks double-bag, but then that's defeating the money-saving purpose.

 

[JaniceM]

They are getting so thin, they are like tissue paper. They usually split before I get them out to the car. If the stores are trying to save money it's not the way. Sometimes clerks double-bag, but then that's defeating the money-saving purpose.

Yes, definitely. Quite a few times bags have torn and items fallen out. I wish they'd go back to the old-fashioned paper bags.

 

[Aunt Marg]

Plastic bags aren't what they used to be, but I tend to believe it's the result of stores pushing to get more people to make the switch to reusable cloth bags.

Grocery stores here (where we live) charge .5¢ per plastic bag.

I miss the old-fashioned heavy weight, brown-paper grocery bags, but I'm a firm-believer in cutting waste, so cloth bags IMO are the way to go.

 

[JaniceM]

Plastic bags aren't what they used to be, but I tend to believe it's the result of stores pushing to get more people to make the switch to reusable cloth bags.

Grocery stores here (where we live) charge .5¢ per plastic bag.

I miss the old-fashioned heavy weight, brown-paper grocery bags, but I'm a firm-believer in cutting waste, so cloth bags IMO are the way to go.

One store that closed recently used to charge for plastic bags, too.

I have a couple of cloth bags, but the only grocery store in the area has been telling people to not bring the bags into the store because of the c.virus.

 

[Aunt Marg]

One store that closed recently used to charge for plastic bags, too.

I have a couple of cloth bags, but the only grocery store in the area has been telling people to not bring the bags into the store because of the c.virus.

Here, too, Janice. No cloth bags, and they won't even handle glass milk bottles. They have plastic crates at the end of each checkout counter, and customers are required to set their milk bottle returns in the crate themselves.

 

[Mahatma]

i try to remember to put my bags back into the car
nowadays our supermarkets charge for thin plastic bags
but we certainly do need to stop using so much plastic
hec i even pay for my groceries with plastic

 

[JaniceM]

i try to remember to put my bags back into the car
nowadays our supermarkets charge for thin plastic bags
but we certainly do need to stop using so much plastic
hec i even pay for my groceries with plastic

There's one store here that now refuses to accept cash. They only take debit/credit cards.

 

[JaniceM]

Here, too, Janice. No cloth bags, and they won't even handle glass milk bottles. They have plastic crates at the end of each checkout counter, and customers are required to set their milk bottle returns in the crate themselves.

Yes, they're cracking down on returns here, too- even though there are many homeless people who depend on taking cans/bottles in.
As for glass milk bottles, I stopped buying it a few years ago after they started charging $5 deposit for a half-gallon bottle. I thought that was kind of extreme.

 

[Aunt Marg]

Yes, they're cracking down on returns here, too- even though there are many homeless people who depend on taking cans/bottles in.
As for glass milk bottles, I stopped buying it a few years ago after they started charging $5 deposit for a half-gallon bottle. I thought that was kind of extreme.

That is extreme, the deposit here is $2, and even then, for a family on a tight budget that buys 2-3 bottles at a time, that's $6, and I know from my kids were little, there was a lot of times where we didn't have an extra $6 to our name, so at $5, the option to have healthier farm milk in the house wouldn't have been an option.

 

[Ruth n Jersey]

Yes they are very flimsy and some have holes in the bottom. Last week I bought some embroidery thread. I was putting my packages in the trunk and happened to notice the thread on the pavement. I remembered her putting it in one of the bags and it must have slipped right through.
Next time I'll have to remember to put it in my pocketbook after she rings it up.

 

[Wren]

Definitely, I used them as bin liners in the past but they just split now, for shopping I use a couple of nylon bags that fold up small enough to fit in my shoulder bag

 

[Sliverfox]

Been told that the plastic bags that get returned are recycled again which makes them thin.

 

[Mahatma]

remember the old string net bags, the more you put in the bigger they got, i think they would be ideal today

 

[JustBonee]

One store that closed recently used to charge for plastic bags, too.

I have a couple of cloth bags, but the only grocery store in the area has been telling people to not bring the bags into the store because of the c.virus.

Seems like we are going in circles with the bag thing .... we go two steps forward, then three steps back!

 

[Aneeda72]

Yes

 

[Aunt Bea]

It took me a long time to adjust to the reusable bags and I'm not turning back now.

I've finally trained myself to return my reusable bags to the car and to carry an old single-use plastic bag tucked in my pocket.

I ask the clerk to return my purchases to the trolley as they are scanned or scan and pack them myself at a self-checkout.

I'm also adjusting to using a credit card for most of my transactions. I've only used cash twice since the middle of March. Once at a mom & pop store and once at the laundrette.

 

[Ruthanne]

Yes, I recall them getting so thin they often double bagged. They are banned in my city now and we use paper bags.

 

[Mahatma]

and do we feel we are using less plastic because of the rule?
personally i used the shopping bags for household rubbish
now i buy plastic rubbish bags, so a saving of ...zero in our house
but an extra cost.... it just mean we are paying the manufacturer a lot more than the supermarkets did...

 

[Fyrefox]

If you self-bag, the thin plastic bags can stick together and be difficult to open, plus they hold less than the older paper bags, so you leave the store with more of them. I’ve had a number which rip open at the bottom, or have their handles tear off...

 

[Lashann]

Yes I agree that some stores are using flimsy plastic bags that can easily fall apart. Some time ago I started using reusable shopping bags more often and have not regretted it. The best ones IMO are the heavy cloth ones that are well constructed. You can continue to wash them multiple times with little or no change in appearance. I also purchased a few heavy duty plastic reinforced shopping (tote) bags that are reusable. The advantage to these is that they can be easily cleaned in case of leakage.

 

[Mister E]

I remember when I was in my teens there were paper carrier bags , flimsy as can be especially on a wet day .

 

[Yo-Yo]

You are so right. They are really thin. The supermarket I go to I bring my own bags each time. I had to buy them but only one time and they are much more sturdier than those plastic ones that rip and fall apart once you take them out of your car.

 

[JaniceM]

That is extreme, the deposit here is $2, and even then, for a family on a tight budget that buys 2-3 bottles at a time, that's $6, and I know from my kids were little, there was a lot of times where we didn't have an extra $6 to our name, so at $5, the option to have healthier farm milk in the house wouldn't have been an option.

When people started hearing about cows being shot up with steroids and antibiotics, some dairies in my home state started offering organic milk- and it was sold in the same kinds of plastic containers. Here, though, the only option a few years ago was organic milk in the glass bottles- not only much heavier to carry, but the deposits required, too.
More recently I've heard of other dairies that sell the organic milk in plastic containers, but haven't had time to look for it.

 

[Aunt Marg]

I remember when I was in my teens there were paper carrier bags , flimsy as can be especially on a wet day .

The brown paper bags I remember from my single digit years and teen years were heavy-weight, no good in the rain, but the baggers (grocery packers) were so good at their jobs, ice cream, milk, butter, eggs... all went into the bag, and the bag actually stood on it's own when they were done, a nice rectangle package you lifted and carried like a baby, with your hand under it's bottom, and off you went.

Ironically enough, those old heavy-weight brown paper bags actually kept perishables at a more comfortable temp compared to today's flimsy plastic bags.

 

[JaniceM]

If you self-bag, the thin plastic bags can stick together and be difficult to open, plus they hold less than the older paper bags, so you leave the store with more of them. I’ve had a number which rip open at the bottom, or have their handles tear off...

Now that you mention it, they do seem a little smaller, too.