Forum Topic

Tesco's getting the boot over bag policy

Here is one former customer who has had enough of checkout assistants saying they have no bags and being apparently unauthorised to get you some. It took 5 minutes to track down a manager, a polite request and another 5 minute wait for them to arrive. There are other supermarket chains who don't subject you to this kind of 'service', I hear. So where do you recommend for a family of six cooking mostly from scratch?Oh and I normally bring bags but went on a whim.

Karen Adams ● 6063d15 Comments

Packaging is also used for advertising purposes and to make products easy to stack on shelves.  This is in the interests of the supermarkets and manufacturers more than the consumers.  For instance we don't need tubes of tomato puree in a tube inside a box and not everyone now does this.  Lurpak has recently changed its packaging and no longer has the cardboard stuck to the plastic tub. Packaging is slowly changing as it should do to make it easier to dispose of.It was the Minister for the Environment Ben Bradshaw who told us to leave the packaging at the till and that was as a result of the supermarkets not reducing their packaging enough as per their agreement with the Government.If something is overpackaged you can complain - to the supermarket, to the manufacturer and to Trading Standards.Our lack of complaint has been used by the supermarkets as an approval of it rather than just an irritated acceptance.Don't just suffer it.Lack of care in loading, unloading, stocking shelves etc together with incorrect storage and buying too much at a time (BOGOFs) particularly where fresh produce is concerned also has a lot to do with waste.

Philippa Bond ● 6041d

I believe there has been research into reducing packaging - can't swear it was Tesco, but some major retailer - which indicated that reducing packaging beyond a certain level results in more waste, as food like apples and biscuits needs to be protected from damage to make it saleable. Damaged products need to be disposed of, which is also wasteful.I agree that packaging often seems excessive. It is immeasurably worse in the US, where absolutely everything seems to come in a large plastic box or bubble which needs to be cut off. Retailers like Ikea (who are particularly innovative with packaging) and, yes, Tesco, find it in their best interests to reduce packaging as much as is practical. It affects their own costs both in distribution and in disposal.

Holly Hodges ● 6042d

I experimented over the weekend by putting m-in-law's wet and slightly musty smelling dishcloth in her microwave with a squirt of w-up liquid and a bit more water.  Worked out brilliantly.  This looks like a very good alternative to boiling or bleaching and I'll try and persuade her to do this to her wet flannels as well. Wish I had the option!

Philippa Bond ● 6042d

I have a couple of string bags but I don't use tem for shopping - they are very good for hanging things up in.  One has some 'rags' in it = you can't beat an old t-shirt or old knickers for polishing your shoes or cleaning the floor.  I haven't bought any cloths for years.  The other has a football and a frisbee etc in it.My grandmother used to use a string bag or a basket for shopping.  I think turtle is just a trade name used to draw attention to the fact that turtles can be killed by ingesting discarded carrier bags as they can look like jellyfish in the water.

Philippa Bond ● 6042d

I have one of those string bags, they're brilliant! Apparently they're called turtle bags, anyone know why?

Stephanie Kitsune ● 6046d

And breathe...I've calmed down but the infuriating thing was other checkout assistants having bags and not passing them across. I use string bags - they expand to something enormous, which is what you need with six of you - and ASDA is way cheaper than Tesco I'm finding.

Karen Adams ● 6047d

Tesco's et al make a great show of paying lip service to recycling & the environment etc by removing plastic bags. They have made no attempt to reduce their own product packaging at all. The amount of waste their packaging creates is enormous. Apples triple wrapped in polystyrene and plastic, meat packaged the same way. Very tempted to take the product out of their excess packaging and dump it at the till as a protest but Mrs C draws the line...

Ken Collins ● 6047d

Yes, sometimes so much attention is paid to increasing recycling rates that the fact that recycling is low down in the waste heirarchy is forgotten.Reduce Reuse Recycle - and don't forget Repair which is before Recycle as well!

Philippa Bond ● 6047d

On another tack but still on recyling - Cadbury's are going to stop putting their Roses in the big tins and go over to boxes instead. However, as someone on the radio said these must be the most recycled things as nearly everyone in the land has ay least one of these with old photos, buttons, and all sorts of bits in them, plus they are so handy for storing homemade cakes. So it's not as if they don't get re-used over and over again.

Vanessa Smith ● 6048d

true, the reason I mentioned these ones though is they are small enough to fit in your pocket/on a key chain or in a glove compartment. When I'm with my partner in east London we go to Lidl sometimes and they have loads of small cardboard boxes (like shoebox size) lying about that we use to carry shopping home in and then just put in the recycling. Would that be as good as a paper bag do you think? Might be a bit better from a recycling stance as the supermarket are recycling them too (they're the boxes that stuff like tins of beans are delivered to the shop in).

Stephanie Kitsune ● 6048d

it is normal for women to carry a bag,ie,handbag in which they can carry a fold up bag,but a man does not.I feel that the money supermarkets make they could afford to suppy free paper bags of a resonable strenght which can be recycled after use as they will be able to have free advertising while in use.

William Micheal Read ● 6048d

I have this great little bag that I keep in my handbag (my brother also keeps one in his car), I got mine from paperchase but I've seen them elsewhere. It's made from the same material as umbrellas and it comes with it's own little bag so you can fold it down and pop it in and it's the size of a small mobile phone or something. In paperchase I think they're about £2.50 or so, and I've had mine for 2 years and use it all the time and it hasn't ripped. Fits loads of stuff in it and is an absolute lifesaver for 'on a whim' shopping!

Stephanie Kitsune ● 6048d

The supermarkets have just about all moved forward now and have large reusable bags for sale at a discounted price as well as Bags for Life.  (When I first decided to decline these 'free' (they're not) bags I priced non-supermarket reusable bags looking for something without a supermarket logo and found them prohibitively expensive.)I was pleasantly surprised the last time I went to the large Tescos by the number of people who had made an effort to take at least one bag - as it used to be the worst store ever for seeing trolleys piled high with purchases in single-use carrier bags and NO reusable ones.  They are going to charge for single-use carrier bags in Wales next year.I try and always keep reusable bags and/or a collapsible crate in the boot of the car and to take a rolled up bag in a pocket or bag.I think you just have to accept that if you do shop on a whim then you may have to buy a bag or load your purchases into your car straight from the trolley just like when you forget your Oyster card you have a higher fare to pay. I have.

Philippa Bond ● 6048d

Aldi's will charge you, but we have got into the habit now of keeping a spare fold up bag in the glove compartment of the car just in case.

Vanessa Smith ● 6063d

Morrisons appears to be slightly behind on the pack on their approach to reducing plastic bag use - especially if you use the automatic check outs. Waitrose make me laugh - they gently scold you with a disapproving look ... but then happily offer enough plastic bags.Just be glad we're not in France where there are absolutely no bags offered in any supermarket.

Alan Clark ● 6063d