Shopping is about to become a very new experience now that free plastic shopping bags are disappearing from the market place. Woolworths no longer offer plastic bags and Coles will follow at the start of next month. It is hoped that this will help reduce the mountains of plastic ending up in the oceans and which is causing the death of birds and sea creatures.
A few years ago we went on a voluntary crusade to end this plastic bag menace. Hundreds of thousands of people presented at the checkouts with their own green reusable carry bags and at its height this seemed unstoppable, but gradually the tide receded and today only a small minority of these green bags survive in a sea of plastic.
The options for those who shop unprepared will be either a return to sturdy, reusable green bags or purchase what we hope will be a biodegradable large plastic bag for about fifteen cents to hold our shopping. It is highly likely that we will see a return to those green bags of yesteryear that are on offer at most checkouts.
It is likely that customers will quickly adapt for the multi item weekly grocery shopping purchase, but there will be a problem with the impulse buy of several items that can not be accommodated in pockets or purse. The bags for sale on offer all seem large and the shops may be forced to consider small biodegradable bags as an option, but the principle remains the same - the era of free bags has ended.
At the moment, public opinion is running seventy-five percent in favour of phasing out free bags but many people claim they had secondary uses for those free bags. In particular, they were widely used as liners for household rubbish bins and now replacement bags will need to be purchased for that same purpose. It is hoped they will be of biodegradable material otherwise there will be little gained.
We are creatures of habit and from its appearance in Australia the Aldi supermarkets never offered free bags. It is noticeable that Aldi customers come prepared with their own bags or wheel the trolley to their cars and deposit their purchases loosely in the vehicle. The turning point in the withdrawal of free bags is the compliance of Woolworths and Coles, who have a major market share.
Unless this free bag removal is supported by legislation there is a risk that smaller stores will retain the option of free bags as a way of encouraging trade. The main objection was that because they were free they were made by the cheapest method that resulted in material that was not biodegradable and which lasted for centuries. It is possible to make bags that degrade with time but that involves a higher cost which commerce rejects.
It will be interesting to see how public opinion reacts as the ban becomes widespread. It would be perfectly logical for packaging of goods at the retail level to become an option. Bring your own container, or have a biodegradable bag supplied and added to the purchase price. In this way, bags that were formerly polluting the world would be replaced by a biodegradable alternative and these would probably cost the customer about twenty-cents per bag.
The decisive factor will be in the minds of the public, but how goods are packaged in shops has probably changed forever !
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