Supermarkets and Retail

Woolworths said yesterday that it would also reduce plastic packaging over the next 12 months, so we won’t see the likes of apples in plastic crates again.

SA has had a plastic bag ban for nearly 9 years now. Unfortunately, the one thing I have never really gotten in the habit of is actually bringing those bags back each time. Sometimes I do, but its not anywhere near the amount I’d like to. In comparison I still see plenty of the original Woolworths green bags around (with the old Woolies logos) in use

But anyway… the world doesn’t end, and people will find themselves adjusting very quickly - whether by their own doing, or by force when the ban comes into place

They held next to nothing, broke very easily… a good idea, but really weren’t fit for use

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Why? People need to carry home their shopping in some way…(and preferably not manky old reusable bags with milk dribbles, chicken juices and meat blood all over the interior - just so unhygienic).

Why not ban plastic water bottles or plastic soft drink bottles being sold in their stores? Why sell milk in plastic bottles? Is there any logical reasoning behind this, apart from the fact that plastic bags are something, until now, that supermarkets have provided for free?

[quote=“CLEW9, post:1288, topic:167”]
But one thing I think people need to know is that ‘biodegradable’ polymers (particularly in Australia) have little chance of actually biodegrading. They (particularly common forms like PLA) need an extremely specific environment to break down (basically that of a purpose-made commercial composting facility). There aren’t too many of those in Australia and the overwhelming majority of these biopolymers don’t end up there, and so, like most conventional plastics, they’ll take an eternity to break down.[/quote]

So where are the recycled paper bags being provided then…?

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I don’t understand how everything is going to be hunky dory just because the “sky hasn’t fallen in”. Am I magically going to have plastic bags appear at home to use for rubbish? Is my shopping at Coles magically going to pack itself into bags that haven’t had groceries in them a hundred times before?

Yeah the sky won’t fall in. It’s just going to be a massive pain in the arse and solve nothing.

Ha. “Woolworths said”. Yeah right. They’ve actually INCREASED massively their plastic packaging on their fresh produce over recent years…what a joke. Hate corporate BS.

But people buy the rubbish. 3kg bag of spuds makes sense, 3 individual onions wrapped in plastic is absurd. But no doubt they’ve done market testing and found that’s how the sheep like to buy their onions. Completely absurd.

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My family has been buying bin liners for years. This change won’t affect me. [quote=“Firetorch, post:1292, topic:167”]
Is my shopping at Coles magically going to pack itself into bags that haven’t had groceries in them a hundred times before?
[/quote]

Buy cloth bags and wash them.

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Last night Harris Farm Markets announced it would also phase out plastic shopping bags, but effective from January 1 next year. It will offer a range of free small single-use paper bags and reusable paper bags sold at cheaper than 15 cents or cost price.

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That’s why those reusable green bags are great.

Because you can easily recycle them - moreso than glass even.

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Free thin plastic bags will still be available in the fruit and vegetable section, and at the butcher and deli. It’s not hard to take an extra couple of bags and put them in with the bag of loose lemons as I have seen people do in Canberra.

Though making the bottle deposit schemes nationwide would help far more.

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We just use the paper mushroom bags.

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Why haven’t you been doing your bit for the environment all these years and reusing plastics, rather than buying new bin liners?

Yes, such an environmentally friendly alternative…

Yes, exactly my point - all about the $.

And another completely one-sided report tonight, from the angle that the ban “doesn’t go far enough”.

This ban particularly irks me because, as usual, a majority of people are massively inconvenienced for the pleasure of a few virtue signalling dopeys.

But anyway, I still don’t understand why Coles and Woolies can’t supply free paper bags if the concern is plastic.

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because as well as looking good in the eyes of shoppers, this allows both to save a significant amount of money selling bags

It’s so irrational though - there are millions of products sold with packaging that is excess for its purpose and has no second use, unlike plastic bags. And with the calls on governments today to go further and actually make state-wide bans, why not focus the energy on say, those companies involved in the process of delivered goods by post, which involve a huge amount of wasted packaging?

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Most of which is recyclable unlike a plastic bag (other than through reuse) - woolworths have also committed to reducing plastic in other uses as well

So they should provide paper bags then - they used to in any case.

The ban seems a lazy answer; the type that seeks to sweep away the issue raised by the question, rather than actually addressing it and finding a solution. The question “how can we provide customers a free means of taking away their purchase from us safely, in an environmentally friendly manner” has been answered with a big fat greedy “no, you can’t”.

It reminds me in a way of the sprinker “roster” (ie ban) we’ve had in place in SW WA for nearly 17 years now - even though much our water supply isn’t reliant on rainfall anymore. The ban stays in place through sheer laziness because “using too much water is not environmentally friendly” - simple, inflexible tunnel vision is applied. There is no consideration of the fact that consumers SHOULD have access to water when they need it, and there can be energy efficient ways of providing the desalinated water required to meet the demand. As is often the case, whenever the “environment” is raised as a concern, the answer is to shout “no”/“ban” rather than any hard work being put in…

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Or the can move to something that allows them to push the cost onto the consumer…

Remember also this move is as much about shaming the state governments of NSW/VIC/WA for their inaction then anything

No, the restriction continues to reinforce the importance of water conservation regardless of whether there is plenty or there is little. Times have changed, excessive water use no longer the responsible thing to do

It’s hard to have access to something that is exhausted, drinking water is a finite resource that needs to be protected so that during times of extended bad weather (heat, drought) it is available, that means we have to sacrifice being able to hose down hard surfaces, watering gardens every day and being generally wasteful about it.

Desalinated water is not necessarily the answer, it’s expensive to produce and it requires access to Salt water, which limits it to coastal communities

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