I refuse to pay 5 cents for something the millions-of-dollars profit-making grocery giants used to provide as a courtesy to customers. It’s not about plastic bags in land-fills for them, it is about adding more profits to their coffers. What is the difference between plastic grocery bags and plastic garbage bags that we all take to the curb for garbage collection that end up in landfills??? Hypocrisy at it’s finest! This 5 cent charge is about making money and nothing else! Most of the alternatives aren’t biodegradable either rendering their logic ineffectual and insulting to those of us with enough intelligence to recognize the truth!
—Oceangal
This article appears in Jun 18-24, 2009.
I agree..it’s a total cash grab.
well obviously.
and they apparently know you can stroll to any one of their competitors and shop there.
will you?
So get the canvas bags already.
No matter which way you slice it, plastic bags are on their way out, whether you like it or not.
I don’t mind paying five cents for the plastic bags being supplied now. They are much more durable then the old cheap freebies. They hold more, too. And, I can use them as lunch bags.
Don’t come running crying when melted plastic starts growing out of your garden.
I never understand these complaints. Companies exist to make a profit; they aren’t charities. Why wouldn’t they make profit-generating efforts?
The bitch is valid and here is why. These stores are charging 5 cents a bag on the PREMISE that they are trying to be environmentally friendly and to encourage people to use the cloth bags. Oh ya they will sell you a cloth bag as well (at a big profit) or you can pay 5 cents for a plastic bag that costs them 2 cents. I have no problem with this. What I have a problem with is them treating us like IDIOTS by trying to convince us that it is anything other than profit driven. And yes,. for now,. I will shop at the competition who does not charge if only for principle.
The point of a reusable cloth bag is not for it to be biodegradeable, but for them to be reused, hence the name.
From their website “The material used to make the fabric for this the bag comes from 100 % post-consumer recycled plastic. In fact, we’ve used soft drink and water bottles collected from recycling facilities to make it. This saves valuable petroleum-based raw materials and reduces the consumption of non-renewable energy needed to create new polyester. Best of all, by initiating a greater demand for recycled plastics, we are helping to divert used, recyclable materials from landfill.”
And actually PC’s five cent charge is in part being donated to green charities.
It is a scam, plain and simple. Right up there with every hotel you stay in with the big signs in their bathrooms which read “Be kind to the Environment. Towels take energy and thousands of gallons of water and harmful detergent. Please reuse your towels when you can”
What it should say is “Towels cost us a fortune to wash and effect our bottom line”
I use the plastic grocery bags, as garbage bags, so it makes a difference to me. I don’t have to pay for garbage bags this way and there is no difference as far as how environmentally friendly they are in comparison to regular garbage bags. It’s a cash grab. What I do find offensive is the attitude of people who believe this is all part of the big picture, as if it’s acceptable. Maybe it’s not a big deal to give them an extra fifty cents to a dollar every time you buy groceries, but the issue starts to come into focus when let’s say hypothetically speaking one million people buy groceries on a single day, and let’s say each of those people are charged an extra dollar, for something previously given to them to carry the shit that they have already paid for. A million dollars minus the cost to them for the bags is their profit. It’s double dipping. Previously the cost of the bag was absorbed by the company because of the money you spent in their establishment. I think all grocery bag bitches should have a tag now, as they are becoming more frequent. In any case if anyone wants to start a petition about this I will support it. Do online petitions really do anything?
This is right up there with NS Power charging more so we’ll use less. Or charging more for tobacco to encourage people to quit. It’s total BS and an obvious cash grab (unless your head’s shoved so far up your ass that all you see is a green initiative).
Bobby, it doesn’t cost them like 2 cents a bag. It costs them like .002 cents a bag. How’s that for mark-up? I’m willing to bet there’s no other product in the store with such a profit margin. And when the reusable made-from-recycled-plastic not-machine-washable bag is manufactured in fucking China what does that tell us about said green initiative? BS
And why hasn’t it dawned on anybody that their reusable bags accumulate a population of bacteria just itchin’ to invade the next loaf of bread you put in there? Canvas bags seem a solution but do you know what kind of food-born bacteria survive Tide’s cold water wash? (NS Power says use less so the consumer takes it from both ends.) And did somebody say Swine Flu?
To quote a favorite bitch, “Oh… Snap”
Oceangal you’re my type of girl. The plastic grocery bag has been demonized but it is in fact one of the most recycled piece of plastic around. First the vast majority of them are made from recycled material. Second, they can be recycled again, hence the plastic bag depository bins at the stores. Thirdly most people use them for other things, lunches, storing things, garbage (I have one in my car where I put my garbage, better than throwing it on the street).
not only being ripped of by having to buy plastic bags but also having to buy reusable bags and so i hear are dangerous to our health.
Of course it’s a cash grab!! They practically say so when they tell you it’s a disincentive. They aren’t saying paying 5 cents a bag saves the environment, they are saying using NO BAG saves the environment and now save you money. If you want to keep polluting you are going to have to pay and the cost is 5 cents per bag. If you don’t want the business pocketing your cash, bring your own bag. Wait until Halifax passes the legislation they just passed in Toronto where ALL stores HAVE to charge at least 5 cents a bag.
And Kay, bacteria in your cloth bag thing is no more a problem then bacteria in your underwear. They can both be washed.
Note to self – never carry gym shoes in reusable bag (despite what Miles thinks)
Oh, and BroTim, in Nova Scotia plastic bags can be recycled but Ontario JUST started doing it last year. That’s a lot of years of plastic bags just being dumped in the ground. Also, SOME of the plastic bags we get from the grocery store get recycled, but many of them still get thrown out as we use them for household waste. You are better off putting your garbage in one large bag then several small ones. Or, you should be investing in biodegradable garbage bags. There are reasons to demonize plastics, especially when they are often used and disposed of so irresponsibly.
Yeah Kay, I wouldn’t carry my gym clothes in my grocery bag either, but I would wash both regularly. I fail to see what was wrong with my comment.
I have the answer… make plastic out of pot instead and resume customer service at the grocery store.
God I’m sick of these bitches. Since when is being green and making money two mutually exclusive activites? Why can’t we agree that they make money off of it AND it’s a disincentive that does in a small way help?
Grocery stores are in the business of making money. The truth of a free market society is that we, as consumers, have a social consciousness. The producers note that social conscience and exploit it for profit. We show our support for these ‘green’ initiatives by spending our money at these establishments. I see this as win-win, and I have no idea why motives have to be purely green for it to be allowable for them to advertise the green effects of their money making policy. They make a little money, they give a little money to charity, they promote a greener lifestyle. I’ve been wondering for years why our norm is not the reusable bag the way it is in so many other places. In Europe they charge $.10/bag.
If you’re spending $1 on plastic grocery bags and you find that problematic then BRING A REUSABLE BAG. That’s the whole point. If you don’t like buying your reusable bag from the same profit making entity then buy a cleaner bag elsewhere. Or go to the competition that is not charging. There are options.
I am with Oceangal et al on this. The charging for plastic is under the guise of incentive to switch… it is a money maker…While I do use burlap and canvas bags for my items I still do need the thin plastic bags for my home garbage before I put them into another plastic bag to the curb.
We know historically whenever the govt attaches a monetary punitive cost to anything they wish to control our behaviour with….it often backfires…. My name is Michael and I gots a nickel…. a nickel/ bag adds up fast….
I will shop at those places that respect my want to have groceries in my recycling bags and my need to have a couple of plastic bags for my home garbage without me having to pay for being a responsible homeowner about my garbage…. why have these stores not switched to paper since they claim to be so about the enviro….or are we saving trees?
Why not make paper bags out of old newspapers…and put CH to good use… LOL
Should Be Working , they’ve got you so snowed… in the good ol’ days not only would the retailer provide a sac to carry your purchase but they’d see you to your vehicle too. The whole point of customer service as an expense is to realize profit in repeat business volume.
Charging for a bag and never providing assistance with your purchase to your car is up there with getting your windows washed at a full-service gas station. This generation of people has such low expectations… why service the customer when they’ll pay anyway? Large corporations have done this to our commerce. Ma and Pop clearly see the value in providing such services at their own expense.
Fuck, you people are stupid.
onion, you probably just need a coffee
Kay, they don’t have me snowed – I completely agree that you get much better service at your local ma and pa store.
And if you read my post I say that, of course, their motivation is profit. The commercial reality is that the big companies are in it for profit and they don’t have to cater to the repeat customer the way the ma and pa store does. If you have the abilty to support those smaller businesses, then by all means do so, it’s the greenest way to vote with your dollars – go local. But getting angry at the big guy because they’re in it for a profit is ridiculous. And when you get right down to it, it is the same reason you get the better service at the smaller business. That is the way they are able to out perform their competition to, gasp, get your money for their own profit.
AND no one can argue that reducing the amount of plastic bags we use is a positive thing. I for one use less of them – but I do still use them and I don’t mind spending $.20 every so often to get a few more (though, truthfully, I don’t shop there very often).
Speaking of which, why not just support the local ‘big guy’ who doesn’t charge for the grocery bags? They bring much more business to Atlantic Canada anyway and though their name brand can’t in any way compete, I always feel better spending my cash there.
I wouldnt mind paying the 5 cents for bags if they were like the old liquor store bags but i cant even lug my milk in these without them breaking!
I don’t think people are so much angry that they charge for the bags but that they claim the charge is in line with some green initiative and not really profiteering or “highway robbery”. Nobody likes to feel manipulated. Nobody likes to feel ripped off.
But to legislate the price of a bag? … let’s turn it around just for a second. What if the government said to you, shop owner, you can sell ProductX for $Y, no more and no less. Shop owner says, “but it costs $Y + $Z” to provide this product to my clients! Government shrugs? Maybe government and legislation doesn’t belong here. Things are so much different when the shop’s profit margin is 1000% and the consumer is the one bearing the brunt.
The government wants to get involved and set green initiatives for businesses/retailers? They need to start with manufacturers… make us a “plastic” but biodegradable bag that will help form compost and contribute to landfill objectives.
Jane I know what you mean by them not being thick bags but that is why they are great for the house/curb garbage and should not cost a thing…. I know folks who double up on the thin at the no charge stores so what are we really accomplishing……is it an illusion….
I think “Should Be Working” said it very well.
I don’t understand why people mind Superstore promoting their 5 cent bags or $1 re-usuable bags as having a positive environmental impact. Isn’t that how advertising works? C’mom… which company hires marketing teams to promote anything by saying, “We’re doing this to make money. Those pop-tarts on sale this week have nothing to do with anything but pure profit. Plain and simple. Buy this crap and line our pockets.” I love to see some of the people on this board held to the same standards in their businesses.
Even worse is Home Depot – 50c/bag made of the thinnest plastic (complete with holes is some areas because the plastic is too thin in those areas to form a complete bag). I think most people who go to HD drop big dollars so surely they can absorb a few cents (what they’re paying for the bags)…
I know!!
also they say that the bags are bad and everythign btu i use them for so much and you CAN recycle them to the store
But the charge IS part of a green initiative. One that is profitable to the store. They only started charging for bags because customers (the general public) has been bitching about plastic bags in landfills. Don’t blame the store, blame the environmentalists, they pushed for it. This is the store’s idea of customer service.
Sorry to say this but fuck environmentalists
Just another form of extremist
its a fucking nickel
And there are so many ways to avoid spending that nickel, that it makes no sense to bitch about it.
ps: Kay, not sure why I didn’t pick up on this earlier, and correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t we pay more for full service vs. self service at gas stations? and wasn’t that increase in price on a /L basis? So in fact we PAID a premium for the service that was well over the $.05 we’re talking about here.
And if gov’t legislated to force business owners to sell ProductX at a price of Y when the business owner could only obtain ProductX at a cost of YZ then no business owner would ever sell ProductX. It would have the effect of ending the sales of that product unless the cost could be brought below Y. That is completely different then legislating a higher price in the hopes that it will affect consumer behaviour. Though, for the record, I don’t think they should do that.
All I know is this. I am NOT being conned into thinking any of these big businesses give a sweet fuck about the environment. They do not. The next time I stay in a hotel I am going to make sure I dirty every towel, every facecloth and every sheet every day I am there. It is SO not about the environment.
My point is, if it’s a green initiative then why stock the plastic bags at all? If it’s a green initiative then why not use paper bags and maintain a level of service expected by your customer?They charge you more for less… a marketing genius NOT to be confused with a green initiative. It’s no more and no less than highway robbery.
If the government meddling with consumer pricing is a “green” initiative then why not introduce legislation at the source? That is, on the manufacturing and importation of products harmful to the environment. How soon after the prohibition of ploy-carbon plastics will manufacturers realize a viable alternative in one of the most affective green initiatives Canada could take? An investment in almighty weed and earth friendly plastic. Nutz.
SBW… charging more for full service is just more proof big business ruins customer service. They used to be called “service” stations where your windows are cleaned, the air in your tires checked and oil topped up along with your (leaded) gas. The good ones shined your chrome before you left the lot…. I’m only in my thirties. This is how far removed our kids are from “traditional” customer service and entrepreneurship.
I wonder what the grocery store should charge for parcel pick-up? (“what’s that?” our young friends ask) Maybe they should legislate that too and penalize people for driving cars to the grocery store… they’ll burn fewer fossil fuels *rolls eyes*
You know Bobby, hotels will give you clean towels everyday if you ask. Who cares if they save money while they are decreasing their water and detergent usage. You wouldn’t bitch about saving a buck or two at home by reusing a towel would you?
This is such a consumption based and wasteful culture we have going these days. People want free bags and clean towels so they can feel like they are getting something for nothing. That never has and never will happen.
So what if the business doesn’t care about the environment. They know their customers do, and they are going to cater to that sentiment in any way that is profitable to them. If you are unhappy with their attempts at being green, say so by taking your money elsewhere.
But seriously, get with the program…using less plastic is a good thing. People are just pissed because they are cheap and lazy and don’t want to change their bad habits.
They stock the bags because you don’t have to get rid of plastic bags all together. We just need to reduce the number that we use. Having to pay for them promotes the reduction. They used to double and triple bag my heavy items at the store….now that bags cost money, they don’t do that anymore.
My gripe is about the hypocrisy surrounding this issue. Plastic grocery bags are a bad choice? But not the various shapes, sizes and colours of garbage bags available for sale? Why is THEIR use not discouraged?
Since the grocery stores who charge 5 cents per bag stand to make millions annually from this, even after they donate a small portion to environmental causes, it is just further gouging and nothing more.
MY gripe is that with the income earned from this ‘tax’, why don’t the corporations donate 100% of profits to envronmental causes, such as for the purpose of building windmills, funding research for greener utilites that are affordable and accessible to the public, etcetera, etcetera? I think we all know the answer to that. If there was some sort of guarantee that this could happen, I surmise most people wouldn’t act so hostile towards the idea.
The use of large plastic garbage bags isn’t discouraged because people do need to put their garbage in something.
The problem with grocery bags was that you get far more then you actually need for putting your garbage in. Those bags were ending up in landfills as garbage, not with garbage in them. REDUCING the number of plastic bags you take from the store is a good thing. Sure the excess can be recycled, but it is more desirable to not produce the bag in the first place. So, it’s not really hypocritical. Plastic isn’t evil but being wasteful is. Plastic shopping bags, in general, are a waste.
Onion, what’d I do to you?! 🙂
It’s sad that people are so worried about having to spend the extra cash on buying garbage bags that they’ll piss all over a store for not giving them away for free.
The point of the venture is to stop people from using so much plastic. When the stores give away bags for free, you end up with a million of them, you can’t walk to your car with a thing of milk under your arm, you take a bag. Two dollar store items? Need a bag. Even if you yourself think you don’t really need one, the store automatically puts your item into a bag, so you take it. This stops when the bags cost money.
And Superstore tells you we don’t want you to buy our bags, we want you to stop using them. Like others here have said, if you don’t want the store to get rich off plastic bags, then STOP BUYING THEM!!! Bring your own, make one out of a pillow case, or put all your items back in the cart to take them to the car. They’re not forcing you to buy their reusable bags, they’re just trying to persuade you not to use their plastic ones.
And it shouldn’t matter if the company cares about the environment, what matter is that YOU care about the environment. If you care, you’ll stop using plastic as much as you can, and that’s really only a very small and inexpensive step. It’s going to cost us money to save the planet, but it’s worth it if you want to have somewhere to live for the rest of your life.
As for the $.05, it may not sound like much but multiply it by millions and that’s a pretty BIG profit.
Yes. But to me it is a nickel. I won’t stop to pick one off the ground. A gold bar, yes, a nickel? No.
“And it shouldn’t matter if the company cares about the environment, what matter is that YOU care about the environment. “
Exactly PAS. Well said.
BroTim…don’t give them the nickel. don’t pay for the bag and they won’t have any profits. And maybe if the store ends up making so much more off shopping bags, they can afford to drop the price of milk to lure you back in after you go to the other store where you don’t have to buy bags. It will all even out, hopefully with less bags in the landfill.
As for the “multiplying it by millions” bit….think not about the money made, but where those millions of bags are going to end up and where they won’t end up if you don’t buy them in the first place.
I agree with Miles – well said PAS. I was searching for a non-cheese way of saying that every little bit helps. We’re all aware of the environmental issues out there. Why, when faced with a choice that is obviously a step in the right direction do we complain about its motivations rather than our own? Is our inconvenience and the company’s profit really that big a deal?
The true change is going to come from a consumer driven alteration of the market and the profitability that is going to come out of developing and selling greener products. Profits are a step in the right direction, we just have to start buying. (AND this is not an example of this type of market change – this is, as has been said many times, an example of a disincentive.)
Ya I might have to agree…Thats why I went out and bought those bags so get ur ass off the couch and buy some of those bags which dont break ass-hole
Miles, “Plastic shopping bags, in general, are a waste”. I argue they’re one of the most functional inventions we have and that’s why they’re so common and popular. I still think they should have switched to paper bags instead of creating themselves a whole bunch of revenue and patting themselves on the back for it right in our faces. I still think our government should lead the way and nab this stuff at the manufacture level and jump-start the weed oil product market (a composite that can be processed into biodegradable “plastic” but requires bud-heavy weed to produce in quantity).
I wish I had a nickel bag for every post in this fucking rip-off bitch!!
Kay, what I was getting at is that 1 plastic bag in my kitchen may be useful, but 100 in my cupboard is wasteful. When I used plastic bags for groceries, I always had a cupboard full of the ones I didn’t need for garbage or other uses. I ended up recycling >90% of the bags I got when shopping. Now that I use cloth bags for shopping, I have just enough plastic bags for garbage and a lot more cupboard space.
Better save them, they’ll be valuable one day.
As for the extras, take them the the plastic recycling bin at the stores.
Right arm Bro!! I’m hording mine, just like those blue liq. comish. bags that used to be plentiful……………where are they now? I got the market cornered! hmm……this is Dejavue. (Damn spell check)
Ultimate irony: you go to the enviro-fashion store to buy a hair shirt like all environmentalists like to wear, and it comes in a plastic bag. Who knew?
Sure, they’ll make some chaCHING off of it, but it’s also a way to gradually motivate customers to bring their own bags or buy the fabric ones that the store offers (which the proceeds go to green charities as someone did note above).
Personally, I’m willing to spend the extra nickel or two so to be eco-friendly. I honestly do not see what the big deal is.
Kay, you can use a cloth bag for everything you would use a plastic one for, aside from throwing out your garbage in them. They only become useful because we have so many of them that we find uses. Kind of like plastic yogurt style containers, if you keep them, you’ll find uses for them, if you recycle them instead, you rarely miss them.
Bro Tim, that misses the point. Sure the excess bags are recyclable, but isn’t it better not to take them in the first place? I mean I take 90% fewer plastic bags than I used to. 90% is a lot.
But yes, they will be valuable someday. I envision our mutated children of the future mining old landfills for plastic once our oil runs out.
Don’t you know anything, the landfills will become the new oil wells. So you have a few extra bags, big deal. How much crap do you have in your place you don’t use or wear anymore. Landfills do not take up that much space.
The whole 5 cents a bag thing is just ugh!!
provide better bags for the cost as we are now paying for them! the stores which offer the free bags have better plastic bags! you can take the bags tot he store to recycle them.
Therefor I will say it agian fuck environmentalists
From the Canadian Press today:
TORONTO – Health Canada says people grocery shopping with reusable bags or bins should take steps to prevent cross-contamination of foods.
The department says that while more environmentally friendly, reusable bins or bags can result in foods coming in contact with bacteria that can cause food-borne illnesses.
Bags and bins that are reused frequently can pick up bacteria from the foods they carry or from where they are stored between uses, such as in the back of a car.
Health Canada suggests washing cloth bags frequently, especially after carrying fresh produce, meat, poultry or fish.
If the bags cannot be washed by machine, they should be carefully washed by hand with hot, soapy water, as should plastic bins.
Last month the industry that makes disposable plastic bags released a report showing a survey of reusable bags found 64 per cent were contaminated with some level of bacteria.
Everything is contaminated with “some level of bacteria”, even if it’s a very very small level.
And not all bacteria are harmful.
Even so, washing the bags isn’t that big a deal. Just throw them in with your undies and socks and towels and any other fabrics that have “some level of bacteria”
PAS, if “everything is contaminated with bacteria” then how come only 64% were identified? Food for thought.
“Bags and bins that are reused frequently can pick up bacteria from the foods they carry or from where they are stored between uses, such as in the back of a car.”
its true! alsow hen you buy meat they STILL give you plastic so that proves that!